The Special Envoy for Road Safety attended the launch of UNHCR’s Safe Road Use campaign in Geneva on 10 June 2015. The UN refugee agency, which every day has vehicles plying some of world's most dangerous roads, launched this organization-wide campaign as part of a UN effort to cut the number of road deaths each year from 1.24 million -- one fatality every 30 seconds.The event was attended by senior officials from UNHCR, and Mr. Todt was welcomed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres.
The campaign will include a widespread awareness-raising initiative focused on the 9,300 UNHCR collaborators dispatched around the globe, as well as workshops on road safety. Last year, 15 people lost their lives due to road crashes in which the organization's vehicles were involved. During the first year of the campaign, UNHCR will provide additional support to a number of focus countries across the world: Colombia, Republic of Congo, Jordan, Kosovo and Uganda. The Special Envoy will visit Colombia in July and Uganda in August.