26 October 2021 – In September 2020, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/74/299 "Improving global road safety", proclaiming a Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030, with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. The resolution requested WHO and the UN regional commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collaboration, to prepare a Global Plan of Action for this Second Decade as a guiding document to support the implementation of its objectives.
Efforts have not ceased in the past year and the Second Decade and its Global Plan of Action will now be launched at the global level on 28 October 2021 at 14:00 CET.
Register to join the WHO virtual launch
The new Global Plan of Action emphasizes the safe system approach and the importance of policies to promote walking, cycling and using public transport as inherently healthy and environmentally sound modes of transport, in alignment with the Stockholm Declaration of 2020. It calls for continued improvements in the road infrastructure and vehicles, enhancement of laws and their enforcement, and the provision of timely, life-saving post-crash response.
This is one of the few times when 2 consecutive decades on the same issue were endorsed by the UN General Assembly: a clear indicator of the importance of road safety as a public health and development issue. This recognition is also clear with the Second Decade endorsement coming amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been attracting all resources and attention across the world.
The Second Decades builds on the many efforts pursued during first Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 which harnessed momentum around road safety at the global, regional and country level. The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018 revealed that although numbers of road traffic deaths continue to rise, national, regional and global road safety efforts during the first Decade may have prevented the situation from getting worse. These efforts were supported by WHO to address different aspects of road safety, including generating evidence, capacity-building, policy, legislation, post-crash response and research.
Besides the global launch, a regional launch of the Second Decade and its Global Plan is planned in the last week of November 2021 coinciding with the World Day for Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims. The regional launch will include the release of stories of featuring examples of road safety efforts undertaken by countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Related links
Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. Success stories from the Eastern Mediterranean
Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030
UN Resolution 74/299 "Improving global road safety"
Global status report on road safety 2018
