Advocating for road safety

Road traffic deaths continue to rise each year and now claim the lives of 1.35 million people annually. Road traffic injuries are the leading killer of young people aged 5–29 years, and the risk of road traffic deaths are three times higher in low- and middle-income countries.

WHO is the lead agency on road traffic injuries in the United Nations system and administers several programs, collaborations and initiatives in an effort to reduce these preventable deaths. Notably, the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration is an informal consultative mechanism administered by WHO that focuses on implementing the recommendations of the World report on road safety injury prevention. The Collaboration’s members work to facilitate international cooperation and to strengthen global and regional cooperation among UN agencies, Member States and international partners towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.6, which seeks to half the number of road traffic deaths by 2020. The Collaboration uses the Global Road Safety Week, held annually in May, to advance the cause of road safety and advocate for concrete change to reduce road traffic injuries.