The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Belize on Thursday, March 14, 2013 launched a historic Road Safety Project which could become a template for improving road safety in all of the Bank's Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs). CDB is providing a loan of USD 7.248 million while the Government is contributing USD 1.596 million for the project that will support interventions to build the country's road safety management capacity, improve the safety of road infrastructure and improve post-crash care. The project also has an education component which will seek to promote improved awareness among motorists in the hope of changing the behaviour of road users and it will also seek to improve the enforcement of traffic laws. CDB's Division Chief (Ag.) in the Projects Department, Mr. Andrew Dupigny, speaking at the launch explained why this project is innovative: "The Project represents the first such multi-sectorial initiative in our Borrowing Member Countries and incorporates current "best practices" to tackle the issue and to support concrete steps towards reducing injuries and deaths associated with traffic accidents. We expect that the approach adopted by Belize will be a model for the region". The improvement of road safety had been identified as a high-priority for the Government of Belize and in December 2010 CDB provided grant funds to assist in the development of an "Investment Plan of Action" for improving road safety in Belize. That Plan in turn has informed the design of this Road Safety Project. CAPTION: CDB's Division Chief (Ag.) in the Projects Department, Mr. Andrew Dupigny, speaking at the launch.