Overview
In March 2010 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road safety. However, Africa continues to have the most dangerous roads in the world, with the risk of death from road traffic injury being highest on the continent (24.1per 100 000 population), and lowest in Europe (10.3 per 100 000). Half of the world’s road traffic deaths occur among motorcyclists (23%), pedestrians (22%) and cyclists (5%) – i.e. “vulnerable road users” – with 31% of deaths among car occupants and the remaining 19% among unspecified road users.
Over the past 10 years, the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has promoted global knowledge sharing and multi-sectoral interventions with support from the UK, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the FIA Foundation. All World Bank road projects today include a safety component, and its lending targeted at road safety has increased more than 300%, from $56 million in FY 2006 to $239 million in FY 2015. The GRSF seeks to expand its donor base to increase its global impact. It currently supports 44 projects in 26 countries. The focus includes road safety design and infrastructure, institutional capacity, legislation, policing and enforcement, behavior change by motorists and pedestrians, as well as safer cars and effective post-crash response.
For African countries, the Decade provided an opportunity to fast-track the implementation of the recommendations from several road safety events, notably those of the African Road Safety Conference that was held in Accra, Ghana in February 2007 and the African Regional Road Safety Seminar that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in July 2009. The Second African Road Safety Conference, held in Addis Ababa in November 2011, developed the Action Plan for the Decade by aligning the Accra recommendations and the Dar es Salaam targets and indicators.
At the global level, two of the proposals for sustainable development goals have targets on road safety. These include providing access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport. It is important to assess how these targets fit in the existing road safety framework in Africa and how road safety efforts on the continent may benefit from the inclusion of road safety targets in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Development partners offer opportunities to support African countries in implementing their road safety activities, particularly those that are in line with the African Road Safety Action Plan. For instance, the African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) is in a position to support African countries that are committed to improving their road safety data systems, which is a prerequisite for effective road safety management. SSATP is also ready to work with committed Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to set up road safety observatories