The UIC Africa Security Task force kick-off meeting was held online on 22 May 2024.

The session began with Mahiret Some, Director General of SOPAFER-B, being nominated as Chair, and Elie-Bersot Evina, Safety Expert at CAMRAIL, as Vice-Chair of the Africa Safety Taskforce.

The main topics addressed during the meeting by Frédéric Henon, Freight Director and Head of Operations & Safety, and Virginie Papillault, UIC Manager of Human and Organisational Factors and Safety Culture, included:

• Discussions on safety management systems, organisational and human factors, technical aspects of the various components, and developing a railway safety culture.
• A presentation on peer reviews, focusing on their benefits, the roles of stakeholders, and work in practice, as well as the 2025-2027 calendar organising peer reviews with the members of the Africa Region.
• UIC Safety Training Modules that will be implemented this year:
  • A two-day Human & Organisational Factors (HOF) course
  • A two-day Safety Culture course
  • A one-day Safety Leadership course