We congratulate our major donor The FIA Foundation on its 20 Year Anniversary and inspiring global impact, including safer roads through its creation and ongoing support of iRAP.

The FIA Foundation was created in 2001 as an act of great foresight and generosity.  It was decided that proceeds from the lease sale of Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA)’s commercial rights to Formula One should be used to permanently endow a new charity dedicated to road safety, sustainable transport and motor sport safety.

The FIA Foundation was born, and among many ground-breaking initiatives was the establishment of iRAP and the Global New Car Assessment Programme to transform the safety of roads and vehicles.

FIA Foundation’s impact since 2001 (as at December 2021)

The evolution of the European and then International Road Assessment Programme from an initial club-led cluster of research projects into a global organisation working with major development bank partners was enabled by core Foundation funding.

iRAP CEO Rob McInerney said, “Thanks to the FIA Foundation and their great work over 20 years,  iRAP has been able to help partners in more than 100 countries save lives with safer roads.  FIAF’s donor support has allowed iRAP to create catalytic change with more than $80bn of road investment leveraged and made safer.”

Read more on the philanthropy’s two decades of success, including iRAP, shared in its report “FIA Foundation 20 Years: 2001-2021” and video here.

See iRAP’s 20 year impact in the First Decade of Action in our digital feature here.

The FIA Foundation’s anniversary was celebrated in London with a forum on Safe and Healthy Mobility entitled ‘Design for Life. For People & Planet’. The Forum brought together international policymakers to review progress in meeting the UN global targets to reduce road deaths and serious injuries ahead of the first-ever UN High Level Meeting on Road Safety and to discuss air quality improvement and decarbonisation of road transportation.

Read more on the FIA Foundation Anniversary event “Design for Life. For People & Planet” here.

Many dignatories participated in the event including Jean Todt, the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Road Safety (above left); FIA Foundation Director Saul Billingsley and WHO Director of the Department for Social Determinants of Health Etienne Krug (above right); and Foundation Patron The Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Chairman of the FIA Foundation (lead image)