Annual National Drivers’ Conference & Road Transport Stakeholders’ Excellence Awards was established with the sole purpose of bringing together road transport industry stakeholders to interact and discuss partinent industry issues in the dynamic road transport sector post COVID19. The event shall provide and prepare the industry for the demand of professional practitioners in the anticipated oil and gas sector then honouring and recognising best practices among existing practitioners including their contributions to road safety and costs of operations for companies/organisations’ transport departments in a country like Uganda where over 95% of our goods and passengers move using the road.
UPDN is coordinating this event in collaboration with sector players as; The Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU), The Ministry of Works and Transport, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Safe Way Right Way Uganda, The Nicole Foundation Uganda, Hope for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents (HOVITA) and Uganda Road Accident Reduction Network Organisation (URRENO): with committed support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and others like you.
Currently, 11 people get killed on our roads daily in Uganda. In 2021, the number of road crashes increased by 42% and people killed increased by nearly 1000; from 3,663 in 2020 to 4,159, according to Uganda Police Traffic report 2021. Globally, we have agreed to an ambitious target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% come year 2030. This is in line with SDG 3.11 and Uganda is finalising the National Road Safety Action Plan in line with the Global target for decade of road safety.DN was established in 2014 and registered as a legal entity with the National NGO Board under the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2016.
UPDN is active in advocating for an improvement in the welfare of professional drivers in Uganda, their livelihood and health. These three components are interwoven to build a homely, non-descriminative environment where professional drivers’ needs are wholesomely addressed.
A 2020 baseline study revealed that out of estimated 120,000 heavy commercial vehicle drivers in Uganda; 97.6% had trained through peers (informally), 1.3% were trained in house, 0.85% went through sales safety training and only 0.25% underwent formal training. Out of those who had received specialised training, 68% got the training from Kenya, 22% from Tanzania and only 10% from Uganda. Besides this, Ugandan drivers and their leaders hardly have opportunities to participate in capacity building, Networking and team building platforms as this. Financial literacy and HIV burden are serious topics requiring attention of commercial drivers and their employers for a sustainable transport sector.
