More funding is still needed to scale up solutions to save lives and livelihoods worldwide 

The UN Road Safety Fund is proud to support the UN High-level Meeting on Global Road Safety and hosted its first pledging event on 30 June 2022 at the UN Headquarters in New York. In total, 16 partners pledged over US$ 15 million to fund vital road safety projects in low- and middle-income countries during 2022-2025.  

Countries including Armenia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Nepal and Qatar have added their voices to the call for increased financing to the Fund. The pledges highlight the important value that the Fund’s growing multi-stakeholder partnership places on investing in safe, resilient and sustainable road safety systems for those countries and regions most in need.  

Donors announcing new pledges to the Fund during the UN High-level Meeting plenary session were Croatia, the European Commission, Hungary, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Russia and Slovakia. At the Fund’s event, pledges were made by private sector donors Autoliv, Bridgestone, FIA Foundation, Keep Fighting Foundation, La Nuez, Michelin Corporate Foundation, Pirelli, Revel and TotalEnergies Foundation. 

To date, the Fund is financing 25 high-impact projects in 30 countries and five regions worldwide and more funding is needed to continue to scale up these evidence-based interventions and close critical road safety gaps. Thanks to the pledges made by donors, as well as online donations from small business owners and individuals, the Fund is expanding its reach to actively support better urban planning for school zones, low emission non-motorized transport, speed management and cleaner safer used vehicle standards in developing countries. 

“More funding can and must be channelled towards road safety solutions to stop the senseless loss of lives still occurring on our roads each and every day,” commented Jean Todt, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety. “These pledges are a welcome part of building our coalition for change, and we urgently need to bring more players on board to join the Fund’s partnership, scale our investments and drive change in still more countries. We know the price of inaction for our children, our cities, and our planet. We must act today.” 

“We are grateful to all our partners who voiced their commitment to support the UN Road Safety Fund and pledge funding that will save the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable road users in many more developing countries,” said Nneka Henry, Head of the UN Road Safety Fund. “With the additional US$ 15 million pledged, we will continue to accelerate our efforts to ensure safer, accessible and inclusive roads for all. We need to build on this momentum and ramp up our financing efforts to scale up our impact to where it is still needed.” 

“Road Safety is a key development issue, costing developing countries between 2-5% of GDP every year. So, without roads that are safe, there can be no sustainable development”, stated Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Europe. “I call on every country in the world to apply as a minimum set of rules the 7 key UN legal instruments on road safety. To deliver our commitment to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030 and make safe and sustainable mobility a reality for all, countries must integrate road safety into all relevant national policies, in areas ranging from urban planning to education, and ensure proportionate national budget allocations.”   

Visit the Fund’s High-level Meeting events web page here and view the event images here. 

Notes to Editors: 

The UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) – set up in 2018 – is a global partnership working to help halve road deaths and injuries in low- and middle-income countries, where over 90% of the 1.3 million fatal crashes occur each year. The Fund works with communities, civil society, governments, companies and UN agencies to address critical gaps in national road safety systems. As an innovative pooled fund, the UNRSF mobilizes financing from private, public and individual donors channelling resources to high-impact, scalable and sustainable road safety projects worldwide.