Collaboration with road safety advocacy NGOs
The WHO Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention (VIP) has been supporting collaboration among nongovernmental organizations advocating for road safety and the rights of injured persons and their families. Initiated in September 2003 in the context of planning for World Health Day 2004, a first meeting of the informal collaboration convened representatives of 12 nongovernmental organizations from Argentina, Belgium, France, India, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA. In the absence of an official international forum for such groups to come together, the meeting was an important first opportunity to share information and experiences and discuss ways of collaborating among themselves and with WHO. On World Health Day 2004 "Road Safety is No Accident", the groups focused their activities on highlighting the views of victims and their families to call for much greater attention to the issue of road safety.
Since then the collaboration has been sustained through consultation, participation in meetings and joint project activities, and exchange of information. The NGOs have been instrumental in establishing a Day of Remembrance for Road Accident Victims, observed on the third Sunday in November each year. An increasing number of countries worldwide is observing this day, which is dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashes. It is hoped that the event will be adopted by the United Nations in the official calendar of United Nations days. Two of the organizations in the collaboration, the Association for Safe International Road Travel and the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims, are partners in the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, coordinated by WHO and the United Nations Regional Commissions.
The Road Ahead, no 4, highlights the collaboration between WHO and nongovernmental organizations, specifically the World Day of Remembrance which was celebrated in a number of countries around the world. Please find all issues of "The Road Ahead"here.
WHO will continue to develop this collaboration, including working on joint global initiatives. For more information, kindly contact Ms Laura Sminkey at sminkeyl@who.int.
More information
Partner organizations
- Association for Safe International Road Travel
- European Federation of Road Traffic Victims
- Drive Alive
- European Federation of Road Traffic Victims
- Ligue Contre La Violence Routière
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving
- RoadPeace (UK)
- Youth Association for Social Awareness (Lebanon)
