iRAP CEO Rob McInerney had a full schedule catching up with iRAP partners in Washington and New York this month. Celebrating 700,000 lives and serious injuries saved was a heart-warming highlight, and a meeting with UNRSC partners provided an important touchpoint as we strive for accountability and action to stop the tragic death and injury of over 50 million people every year.

The UN Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) met on 13 June and global action towards the upcoming 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety was an important agenda item. The UNRSC meets biannually and brings together organizations of the UN system, civil society organizations, government agencies, multilateral and international development agencies, academic institutions, philanthropic foundations and private sector entities. All member organizations have an international road safety profile – with their road safety work extending beyond one country – and contribute to road safety improvements at regional and global levels.

Rob presented on iRAP partner activities globally and shared the recent announcement of Johns Hopkins University research published in PLOS One that validates the saving of almost 700,000 deaths and serious injuries in 74 countries since 2016  thanks to road safety infrastructure changes and safer speeds implemented by iRAP partners using the iRAP Methodology and tools.

Member plans were shared to support global advocacy and outcomes towards the 4th Global Ministerial Conference to be held in Marrakesh in February 2025. The Ministerial will have the theme #CommitToLife” and focus on commitments to halve road deaths by 2030. iRAP will be part of a UN Working Group set up to brief and prepare all countries ahead of the event.

UNRSC Meeting participants, New York, 13 June

Whilst in New York, UNRSC partners joined in undertaking a Mobility Snapshot at a city intersection led by Lotte Brondum, Executive Director of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety.

Alliance members and the road safety community are currently doing Mobility Snapshots around the world with the goal of advocating for road safety interventions that have been proven to save lives backed with local data. The Alliance and iRAP have developed a specific and easy to use data collection tool for this.

At the intersection, partners counted how many people are using the intersection and observed whether life-saving road safety interventions are in place to protect road users.

UNRSC Members undertake a Mobility Snapshot at a New York intersection

Find out how you can join the global campaign and do a Mobility Snapshot in your community here.

Whilst in the States, Rob met with partners from FIA Foundation, Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, World Health Organization, UN Road Safety Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, AIP Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, IFM Investors, Fundación Aleatica, Abertis, UNOPS, Global Road Safety Partnership, Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Global NCAP, MAPFRE, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), General Secretariat of the Organisation of American States (OAS), and UNICEF – to name a few.

We look forward to continuing to celebrate the 700,000 saved impact with partners across the world in the coming months!