1 October 2026, Bosnia and Herzegovina — A new initiative to make journeys to school, football pitches and community sports facilities safer for children is launching in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a particular focus on creating safer and more inclusive mobility for girls.
The Safe Routes to Play project, led locally by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Automobile Club (BiHAMK) with technical support from the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), will work with young people, communities and local authorities over the next ten months to identify high-risk routes, understand children’s road-safety concerns and provide recommendations for road improvements around schools and sports facilities.
The launch on 1 October coincides with the beginning of International Walk to School Month, providing an opportunity to highlight the importance of safe, healthy and accessible journeys for children.
Bosnia and Herzegovina faces a significant road-safety challenge, with 67 road deaths per million inhabitants, compared with an EU average of 44.6. Furthermore, road traffic injuries remain the leading cause of death among children and young people aged 5–29 globally.
The project builds on the Legacy for the Future partnership between the UEFA Foundation for Children, the adidas Foundation and the FIA Foundation, which brings together the unifying power of football and evidence-based road-safety approaches. As part of the project, iRAP’s Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) will be used to assess road-safety risks on routes around schools and sports facilities, while the Youth Engagement App (YEA) will give young people a platform to report road-safety concerns encountered during their journeys, share their experiences and contribute to the development of solutions.
Young people, particularly girls, will also participate in interactive, football-based road-safety workshops designed to build their knowledge and confidence as advocates for safer mobility in their communities. At the same time, the project will engage parents, communities and local decision-makers to build support for targeted infrastructure improvements and safer routes.
“Every child should be able to get to school and to the football pitch safely. Safe Routes to Play puts young people at the centre of that ambition, listening to their experiences, using evidence to identify risks and working with communities to create practical solutions,” said Rasim Kadić, Secretary General of BIHAMK.
The project will be implemented over ten months in two pilot sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a focus on areas with high participation of girls. By combining youth engagement, football and evidence-based road-safety tools, the project aims to demonstrate an approach that can be replicated to help create safer and more inclusive journeys for children across the country and beyond.
As communities around the world come together this October to promote walking and active journeys to school, Safe Routes to Play offers a timely reminder that every child deserves a journey to school and sport that is safe, inclusive and accessible, which is a legacy the project aims to help build for the future.