One year on, global commitment to the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 intensifies

On 11 May 2011, the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 was launched in more than 100 countries, with one goal: to prevent five million road traffic deaths globally by 2020. Moving from the Global Plan for the Decade to national action, many countries have taken measures towards improving road safety, either by developing national plans for the Decade (e.g. Australia, Mexico, the Philippines); introducing new laws (e.g. Chile, China, France, Honduras); or increasing enforcement of existing legislation (e.g. Brazil, Cambodia, the Russian Federation), among other concrete actions. The recent UN General Assembly resolution on global road safety sponsored by more than 80 countries gives further impetus to the Decade by calling on countries to implement road safety activities in each of the five pillars of the Global Plan.

• Decade progress
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On 19 April 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a new resolution set to improve global road safety. Resolution A/66/L.43 recognizes the global public health and development burden resulting from road traffic crashes, while taking into account the efforts made by some low- and middle-income countries to implement best practices, set ambitious targets, and monitor road traffic fatalities. The resolution welcomes national and local launches of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, officially marked on 11 May 2011, and calls on Member States which have not yet done so to develop plans for the Decade.

• More information
• Resolutions and UN Secretary-General's reports

UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, has released his latest report on road safety. Developed with support from WHO in consultation with the United Nations regional commissions and other partners of the UN Road Safety Collaboration, the report reviews implementation of the various UN General Assembly resolutions on road safety during the period October 2009 - August 2011.

• More information
• UN Secretary-General's report
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Governments, international agencies, civil society organizations and private companies from more than 100 countries are launching the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. From Tanzania to Sri Lanka and from Namibia to Mexico, presidents and prime ministers are expressing their commitment and launching national plans for the Decade. To symbolize the launch, national monuments are illuminated with the road safety "tag", the new symbol for the Decade, from New York City, to Rio de Janeiro, Warsaw, Sydney, Moscow, Colombo and Geneva. These events mark the start of the Decade which seeks to save 5 million lives over the ten-year period.

• Decade of Action official page
• Symbol of the Decade: the road safety tag