ΝΕΑ από την Global Alliance of NGOs gor Road Safety!

 

 

Editorial: NGOs on the road safety frontline This UN Global Road Safety Week, NGOs have been at the forefront of community-led advocacy, bridging the gap between policy (or lack of it) and realities people face every day. Using Mobility Snapshots, they have collected data that shows what it’s like to cross the road outside a school, walk to the bus stop with no footpath, or to pick up groceries from the local market—places where walking and cycling are common and necessary.  They have shown how people’s journeys are made difficult and dangerous by fast-moving traffic, lack of safe and convenient crossings, and blocked or missing footpaths. These are major clues that people who walk and cycle have been invisible to those who design, build, and legislate our streets.  As well as documenting the issues, they are using the data to challenge mindsets: of road users, who have accepted unsafe streets as normal and inevitable, and of decision makers, to put people who walk and cycle into the spotlight. During the campaign week, NGOs have empowered children to demand routes to school, organized car-free street events and processions to visualize streets designed for people, and led guided community audits and Mobility Snapshots to point out simple, evidence-based solutions that can transform streets for safe walking and cycling. For NGOs on the frontline of road safety, the UN Global Road Safety Week isn’t a standalone campaign. It is a visible key moment in their ongoing advocacy to bring attention to dangerous realities and people-centered, evidence-based solutions.

UN Global Road Safety Week round up

UN Global Road Safety Week campaign in Moldova. © Automobile Club of Moldova

UN Global Road Safety Week round up “Despite their value, walking and cycling remain under-prioritized in policy and planning. Globally, infrastructure is inadequate – only 0.2% of reported road length includes cycling lanes, and the majority of roads are unsafe for pedestrians.” — Promoting walking and cycling: a toolkit of policy options, WHO.  This month's UN Global Road Safety Week was a key visibility moment for NGOs’ ongoing advocacy for evidence-based interventions for walking and cycling using Mobility Snapshots. The Mobility Snapshots are a simple way to collect community data. During the campaign: 55 new Mobility Snapshots have been submitted so far from 21 countries. At these intersections, initial analysis shows that: More than 55,000 people walk and cycle at these intersections in peak hour; 60% lacked usable footpaths on all legs, 73% lacked usable pedestrian crossings on all legs, and 89% lacked bicycle paths; 69% had speed limits above 30 km/h or the speed limit was unknown. 61 NGOs joined our Instagram Story Chain. Their call for safe walking and cycling was viewed more than 400,000 times. 17 NGOs in Africa advocated using campaign grants supported by TotalEnergies Foundation. Read stories about NGOs’ campaigns below.

Newly-painted pedestrian crossing in Quito, Ecuador. © Fundación CAVAT

Featured member campaigns Community audits, walking and cycling processions, street implementations, and roundtables: NGOs have been at the forefront of local advocacy during UN Global Road Safety Week this month. Read about a selection of NGOs’ campaigns: In Ecuador, Fundación CAVAT worked with the Municipality of Quito to repaint a pedestrian crossing at its 2024 Mobility Snapshot intersection. This symbolic intervention is helping them advocate for more changes at its 2025 Mobility Snapshot intersections in collaboration with Universidad San Francisco de Quito. In India, TRAX targeted an intersection near the busiest wholesale market in Delhi, and is using the Mobility Snapshot and iRAP analysis to convince the Public Works Department to address specific issues that are making pedestrians and cyclists unsafe. Also in India, Avoid Accident kicked off a project with the municipality in Mohali to make pedestrian crossings around the city safer and more convenient. In Iran, Road Safety Pioneers organized activities to advocate for 30 km/h limits, traffic calming, and visible enforcement around 20 schools in Tehran and Mashhad. In Rwanda, Healthy People Rwanda's campaign was triggered by concerns raised by school students about unsafe and inconvenient crossings and insufficient crossing times, resulting in a lot of near misses. It is using its Mobility Snapshot to advocate for additional crossings, signals that give pedestrians enough time to cross, and midblock crossings to protect them. In South Africa, Road Ethics Project is working with Hammanskraal United Commuters Voice to raise awareness of the challenges facing people who walk and cycle in poorer parts of the country and the connection between land use and transport planning. This is just a taste of the work that NGOs around the world are doing. Congratulations to these and all our NGOs that have been advocating during UN Global Road Safety Week to make walking and cycling safe. We look forward to hearing about your progress. See photos from NGOs’ campaigns on our website.

Vehicle safety demonstration by Global NCAP at ITF 2022.

Joint letter resists vehicle standards roll back “We strongly believe that it is better to level up than to level down vehicle standards. This would both improve road safety and international trade in automobiles. It would surely be tragic for the victims of trade wars to be everyone on the roads, including vulnerable pedestrians and children.” — extract from a joint letter to the International Transport Forum (ITF) Chair. The Alliance is among 23 signatories to a joint letter sent to ITF Chair, Juan Carlos Muñoz, calling for countries to resist roll back of vehicle safety standards in trade negotiations resulting from recent global tariff disputes. In particular, the letter notes UN regulations, adopted by many major car-producing countries, that specifically protect pedestrians in the event of a collision. Read the letter.

NGOs and youth call for safe walking and cycling at the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety

Ministerial Conference analysis shows few walking and cycling commitments In March, the Alliance published its analysis of the plenary commitments made by countries at the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in February 2025. In alignment to the UN Global Road Safety Week theme of safe walking and cycling, we took a dive back into the analysis to identify what commitments were made for walking and cycling specifically. We found that out of 25 countries that made plenary commitments, only four countries (India, Philippines, Thailand, and Zambia)—representing 16% of commitments—mentioned actions for walking and just three (Philippines, Thailand, and Zambia) mentioned actions for cycling. The plenary statements provide a valuable opportunity for NGOs to hold their governments accountable for public commitments made on the global stage. Read an example below and read more about the analysis here.

Lotte Brondum receiving her honorary doctorate at Hasselt University.  © Hasselt University

Hasselt University honor for NGO community This month, the Alliance’s Executive Director was conferred an honorary doctorate by Hasselt University in recognition of the Alliance’s role in involving NGOs in road safety policy. She dedicated the doctorate to the member NGOs for their pivotal role in road safety advocacy and accountability. Hasselt University has been a valuable partner to the Alliance. Through the Safe System Approach short course, the university has provided our members with access to cutting-edge research and practical tools. This has strengthened the capacity of NGOs to support the implementation of effective road safety strategies and has fostered a community of practice dedicated to continuous learning and improvement. Read the joint statement from Lotte and the Board.

UN Global Road Safety Week event in South Africa © South Africans Against Drunk Driving