Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

UN Wants to Halve Annual Road Deaths and Injuries by 2030, says UNGA President Abdulla Shahid

December 6, 2021

United Nations has a Global Plan to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030, as road accidents are still responsible for 1.3 million annual deaths and 50 million injuries all over the world. The plan is a key part of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and was discussed recently at an event supporting the High-Level Meeting on Global Road Safety at the General Assembly in New York.

Opening the discussion, the President of General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid said that the world needs to address this unnecessary and tragic burden on families, communities and economies. “Road accidents are entirely preventable, and our priority must be exactly that, to implement preventive measures,” he added.

Looking ahead, he said implementation by national and local governments will require two main elements: financing and the engagement of relevant actors. With a notable funding gap in most countries, 90 per cent of road deaths happen in low and middle-income countries despite having less than 60 per cent of the world’s motor vehicles. Despite obvious challenges, these countries can leapfrog traditional, standalone interventions to address road safety and adopt an integrated approach to safe and sustainable transport, says the Global Plan report. The Global Plan describes what is needed to achieve that target and calls on governments and partners to implement an integrated Safe System Approach.