United Nations Special Envoy for Road Safety
Introduction
United Nations Secretary-General announced on 29 April 2015 the appointment of Jean Todt as his Special Envoy for Road Safety. Mr. Todt is the former President of Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) - Terms of Reference and Mr. Todt's CV.
Every year, 1.4 million people are killed from road crashes and millions more are injured. Half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Road traffic deaths are also the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29, and road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death globally... Read more
Key areas of work
In focus
First UN Agencies Retreat
on Road Safety
On 6-7 July 2023, the Secretariat of the Special Envoy hosted the first UN Agencies Retreat on Road Safety. More that 30 road safety experts, from 22 different Agencies and departments joined the activity in Geneva.
Highlights
- The Special Envoy contributed, along with the UNECA and the Kofi Annan Foundation, to the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award 2023, hosted by the Government of Morocco, in Marrakech on 25-26 September. The press release is available here;
- On 5 December 2022, the Special Envoy convened the 6th UN Partnership Meeting for Road Safety. The event was held in hybrid format from Geneva and attended by more than 40 high-level representatives from 33 UN organizations and departments;
- The Special Envoy was awarded the Lifetime Achievement for Contribution to Road Safety by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium on 8 December 2022;
- The Special Envoy participated in the opening of the 7th Session of the ESCAP Committee on Transport and its high-level roundtable in Bangkok, Thailand on 23 November 2022;
- The Special Envoy participated in the Future Investment Initiative "Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New Global Order", held in Riyad, Saudi Arabia from 25 to 27 October 2022;
- The Special Envoy contributed to the 83rd session of the UNECE Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, in San Marino on 3 October 2022;
- The Special Envoy met with Government and UN officials as well as representatives from the private sector in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Argentina in August 2022;
- On 1 July 2022, the Special Envoy launched a global campaign on road safety, in collaboration with JC Decaux;
- On 30 June 2022, the Special Envoy delivered opening remarks at the High-Level Meeting on Global Road Safety in New York;
- On 21 June 2022, the Special Envoy participated in the Forum on Safe & Healthy Mobility entitled ‘Design for Life. For People & Planet’, held in London by FIA foundation;
- From 22 to 26 May 2022, the Special Envoy participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland;
- The Special Envoy contributed to the launch of the first Kofi Annan Road Safety Award in Accra, Ghana on 16 March 2022;
- The Special Envoy contributed to the Launch of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 on 28 October 2021;
- The Special Envoy delivered remarks at the UN High-Level Political forum for Sustainable Development in July 2021;
- With a new Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 (proclaimed in the UNGA Resolution A/74/299), the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week (GRSW), 17-23 May, was an opportunity to raise visibility of the cause on the global scale. The Special Envoy contributed to the 6th UN GRSW through a number of efforts.
