Thematic session 6: Sustainable transport and sustainable cities

H.E. Mr. Dai Dongchang has been Vice Minister of Transport of China since 2016. His areas of responsibility include transport planning and international cooperation. He was born in 1962 in Shandong Province and lives in Beijing. He holds a Bachelor degree of Road & Bridge Engineering from Tongji University (1979-1983) and a Master degree of Economics from Cambridge University (1996-1997). Previous posts and assignments include: CPC leadership member of the Ministry of Transport (2014-2016.4); Chief Planner of the Ministry of Transport (since 2009); Director-General of the Department of Highways of the Ministry of Transport (2007-2009); President and Deputy Party Secretary of Research Institute of Highway in the Ministry of Transport of China (2006-2007); President and Deputy Party Secretary of Transport Planning and Research Institute in the Ministry of Transport of China (2004-2006); and Chief engineer of Transport Planning and Research Institute in the Ministry of Communication of China (2001-2004).

On 13 April 2017, the Secretary-General appointed Ms. Olga Algayerova of Slovakia as the next Executive Secretary of the UNECE. She took office on 1 June 2017. Ms. Algayerova brings to the position a combination of leadership and diplomatic skills with deep knowledge of the region with its challenges and opportunities and a strong focus on building and nurturing partnerships among key stakeholders with the United Nations. Prior to her appointment, she served as Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria (since 2012). She was previously President, Slovak Millennium Development Goals (2010-2012); State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2010) and Corporate Export Manager, Zentiva International, a.s. (2004-2006). Born in 1959, Ms. Algayerova holds a Master in Contemporary Diplomacy from Malta University, a Master in Business Administration from The Open University Business School, United Kingdom and a Dipl. in Engineer of Economy from the University of Economics Business Faculty, Bratislava.

Mr. Mohamed Mezghani has been working for more than 25 years in public transport and urban mobility related fields. He is the Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) since 1/01/2018. He has been Deputy Secretary General of UITP from January 2014 to December 2017. Until then, he has worked at UITP as Senior Manager (1999-2001) and Knowledge Director (2001-2006) chairing the department developing knowledge-related services for UITP members: professional training, research projects, thematic studies, technical advice, conferences, networking activities, information centre, etc. From 2006 till 2013, he has worked as independent consultant and Adviser to UITP on several technical assistance and training projects in Africa and the Middle-East and managed a number of projects involving numerous experts and multidisciplinary teams. His main fields of expertise are: Urban mobility policies and travel demand management, Trends and innovation in urban transport, Institutional organisation and regulatory framework of public transport, Relationships between public transport stakeholders, and Urban transport energy efficiency. Before joining UITP, M. Mezghani has been working as consultant in the French group, BCEOM, (from 1990 to 1999) more particularly in the urban mobility field. He has managed and carried out projects including policy definition, technical assistance and research activities in several countries in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries. During his collaboration with the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management, ADEME, (from 1988-1990), M. Mezghani carried out actions aimed at identifying and evaluating transport energy efficiency projects likely to be financed by the Agency in France. He has been graduated in Industrial Engineering (1987) from Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Tunisia and has a Master in Transport (1988) from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France.

Mr. Todt was appointed as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety since April 2015. He is currently the President of Federation International de L’Automobile (FIA). He was first elected to this post in October 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Between 2006 and 2009, Mr. Todt was Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari. Prior to that, he has held senior level positions overseeing racing and sporting activities in Ferrari and PSA Peugeot Citroën Group. Mr. Todt started his career in 1966 as a rally co-driver and participated in the World Rally Championship until 1981. He won the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers with a Talbot Lotus in 1981. Mr. Todt also devotes his time to several charitable causes. He is one of the Founders and Vice-President of the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (ICM), an institute devoted to medical research for brain and spinal cord disorders. Mr. Todt was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year Award by the United Nations Association of New York in 2016. Mr. Todt studied economics, business and marketing at the Ecole des Cadres in Paris.

Ms. Rehana Moosajee Rehana – The Barefoot Facilitator - brings a range of skills and life experiences to the work she does. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has a history of community activism – having served on a range of civic structures. Ms. Moosajee was a Councillor in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality between 2000 and 2013. During her tenure as the political head of Transport she led the team that delivered Africa’s first full Bus Rapid Transport system – Rea Vaya. She has been called upon to share her learnings, insights and experiences at a variety of events – including amongst others - the International Transport Forum, the American Public Transport Association, the Eschborn Dialogues as well as the Gordon Institute of Business Science. Her current assignments traverse a diversity of content areas including eco-mobility, food systems, early childhood development, wellbeing and inclusive economies and Healing Fields. She serves as a Research Associate at the South African Cities Network and provides innovative facilitation for authentic conversation to a number of government departments, development agencies and non-profit organisations. Ms. Moosajee and her microenterprise, The Barefoot Facilitator, work closely with the community of Slovo Park Informal Settlement in Johannesburg – translating some of the theoretical concepts discussed on international platforms into practice. This often demonstrates the wide gap between sweeping theoretical statements and the lived reality of effecting change. Ms. Moosajee serves on the boards of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and PlayAfrica Children’s Museum.

Ms. Jill Warren is CEO of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), a Brussels based civil society NGO. Together with a team of skilled and passionate experts, she advocates for more and better cycling as a sustainable and healthy means of transport and leisure. Prior to joining ECF, Ms. Warren spent over 20 years in progressively senior roles at major international law firms. She has also worked in the automotive industry. Ms. Warren has spent the past 30 years living and working in Germany, London and Brussels. She studied in the US, Germany and Belgium and holds an MBA from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Ms. Warren is an avid everyday and recreational cyclist who also enjoys seeing the world by bike on cycling holidays.

Mr. Rob McInerney is the Chief Executive Officer for the international Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), a registered charity with the vision for a world free of high-risk roads. 

With RAP projects and programmes now active in over 100 countries worldwide, Mr. McInerney works closely with key development bank, political and technical leaders from each country to build local capacity and deliver large scale and long-term road safety benefits through the provision of safer road infrastructure as part of their own RAP programmes. Mr. McInerney was awarded the IRF Global Road Safety Award in 2017, Fellowship of the Australasian College of Road Safety in 2015 and received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2014 and again in 2020 in recognition of the work of iRAP globally.

Mr. Zhao Zesheng has been working urban construction area, such as gas supplying and heating system, lighting system and traffic system, for decades since 1985. He organized to draft Guidance of the Ministry of Housing and urban-rural development on strengthening urban underground municipal infrastructure, briefing on typical issues of Liquefied petroleum gas, opinions on carrying out the work of sidewalk purification and bike path construction and other policy papers, and participated in editing guidance Practicing carbon-neutral Green Development, serving green life-guide to scientific development of landscape greening. He published problems existing in the management of urban underground pipelines and their solutions in Academic Journal.

Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), appointed at the level of Under-Secretary-General by the Secretary-General, following an election by the General Assembly on 22 December 2017. As the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ms. Sharif has focused on reforming and rejuvenating the agency, mobilizing for internal and external support for the organization's restructuring and new Strategic Plan 2020–2023. Key initiatives undertaken by Ms. Sharif as the Executive Director of UN-Habitat include the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution 73/539 after 14 years of negotiation, which established a new governance structure with universal membership, governed by the UN-Habitat Assembly. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. In 2011, she was the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. As mayor of a local authority, she led the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai to achieve its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play.” Ms. Sharif began her career as a Town Planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In 2003, she was promoted to Director of Planning and Development, a position she held until November 2009. Ms. Sharif holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Town Planning Studies from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, UK and a Master of Science in Planning Studies from the Malaysia Science University.

Mr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was elected WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO Member States at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017. He was the first WHO Director-General elected from among multiple candidates and was the first person from the WHO African Region to head the world’s leading public health agency. Mr. Tedros graduated from the University of Asmara with a Bachelor of Biology, before earning a Master of Science (MSc) in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London, a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Community Health from the University of Nottingham and an Honorary Fellowship from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Following his studies, Mr. Tedros returned to Ethiopia to support the delivery of health services, first working as a field-level malariologist, before heading a regional health service and later serving in Ethiopia’s federal government for over a decade as Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005-2016. Prior to his election as WHO Director-General, Mr. Tedros held many leadership positions in global health, including as Chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Chair of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and Co-chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Board.

Mr. Guo Jifu is the Director of Beijing Transport Institute, Professor, a member of National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress (BMPC). He serves as a member of the Consultative Committee on Coordinated Development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and Deputy leader of the Panel Expert on National Urban Smooth Traffic Action Plan. His research focuses on urban transportation planning and intelligent transportation systems.