The latest UN Secretary-General’s Report on Improving Global Road Safety features the work of iRAP partners in more than 104 countries and references how the Star Rating Methodology and tools are supporting global stakeholders in the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety.

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 74/299, the 2021 Report provides a global overview of the progress made in the attainment of the objectives of the Second Decade of Action. It was prepared by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the United Nations regional commissions and other partners in the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.

The report highlights the activities carried out in support of the goal of the Decade, which is to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by at least by 50 per cent from 2021 to 2030.

The activities include the development of a global plan of action to assist countries in developing their own plans, advocacy activities to sustain political will throughout the Decade, as well as support for implementation efforts, including funding, capacity-building and technical support.

Specific iRAP mentions include:

• (Page 11 – 46) The International Road Assessment Programme has extended its partnerships with Member States to 104 countries, with new activity in 2021, including an additional 90,000 km of risk mapping led by Croatia, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and a further 120,000 km of star rating and investment plan assessments completed by Governments and NGO partners in Australia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Panama, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand and the United States of America. New locally led national road assessment programmes were being developed in Bahrain, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Zambia.
• (Page 12 – 47) Several initiatives continued to be undertaken to improve safety around schools using such tools as the Star Ratings for Schools application of the International Road Assessment Programme and the School Area Road Safety Assessments and Improvements methodology. Projects were carried out by the Global Road Safety Partnership in South Africa (in partnership with South Africa Road Federation and 3M) and in the United Republic of Tanzania (in partnership with Amend). AIP Foundation partnered with the Ministry of Transport of Viet Nam to design and pilot a safe school zone design guide to provide guidance to local and provincial governments on infrastructure standards for safe school zones.
• (Page 14 – 56) Several programmes were implemented to improve capacity to assess the safety of road infrastructure, including:
  (a) A series of webinars organized by the World Bank and the International Road Assessment Programme to teach participants to conduct safety assessments using the methodology of the Programme across the African region and the Latin American region;
  (b) An initiative by the Youth for Road Safety and the International Road Assessment Programme to equip young leaders in Belize, Colombia, Kenya, the United States and Viet Nam to conduct star rating assessments, using the Star Rating for Schools application, around schools and universities;
  (c) The provision of training grants, as part of the International Women in Engineering Day, for 31 female engineers from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Italy, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Peru, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Viet Nam.

The report provides information on the avenues that exist to monitor progress on achieving the Decade’s objectives and concludes with a set of recommendations for the consideration of the General Assembly.

Download a copy of the report here.