How the World Bank is advancing road safety

A mural outside a school zone in Delhi, India._11zon

As the world approaches the midpoint of the United Nation’s Second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030), the urgency to meet the goal of halving road traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 is ramping up. This target, embedded within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3.6), reflects a global commitment to addressing one of the most preventable yet persistent public health crises of our time. Road crashes claim nearly 1.2 million lives each year—around 3,300 every day—with children and young people disproportionately affected.

Halving global road fatalities within a decade is, admittedly, a very ambitious goal. Even so, with every road death a tragedy unto itself, it is something we all must strive for.

The first UN decade of action for road safety—which spanned 2011 to 2020 and had the same objective of halving fatalities and serious injuries within the decade—fell short of achieving its target, despite notable progress in many countries. The lessons learned from that period have laid a strong foundation for renewed efforts.

The Second Decade of Action has so far been characterized by an evolution of road safety strategies informed by data, research, and a growing catalog of best practices; exciting technological progress such as the advent of Intelligent Speed Assistance; and increasing funding for vital road safety improvements. Still, progress has been frustratingly slow and uneven, and there is still much work to be done.

The upcoming Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, to be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from February 18-20, 2025, arrives at a pivotal moment. Under the theme "Commit to Life," this conference will convene transport ministers, policymakers, civil society, and industry leaders to take stock of progress since the start of the decade, identify new priorities, and forge new commitments. It will be the first Ministerial Conference on Road Safety hosted on the African continent, highlighting the region's growing role in the global road safety agenda.

The World Bank's recent milestones and momentum

For our part, the World Bank has made significant strides in advancing road safety in low- and middle-income countries, where 92% of road traffic fatalities occur. From mid-2013 to mid-2023, the World Bank directly financed $3.34 billion in road safety improvements, benefiting millions of people worldwide. Between mid-2018 and mid-2023 alone, World Bank-financed transport projects provided 65 million people with access to safer roads—equivalent to the entire population of South Africa or the United Kingdom.

Beyond this, several recent road safety milestones over the past year position the World Bank as a key player in the global effort to achieve the 2030 target:

1. Establishment of a dedicated Road Safety Unit

In July 2024, the World Bank created a dedicated Road Safety Unit, the first of its kind among multilateral development banks. Complementing this, the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF), a World Bank-managed multi-donor trust fund, has been restructured with a new business plan for fiscal years 2024-2027. These initiatives elevate road safety within the institution and enhance our ability to catalyze financing and support for road safety initiatives worldwide.

2. The Hart Schafer Road Safety Award

To honor the legacy of Hartwig "Hart" Schafer, a former World Bank leader and passionate road safety advocate, the World Bank recently established the Hart Schafer Road Safety Award, which is presented to World Bank task teams and government counterparts to recognize excellence in advancing road safety financing and innovation. The 2024 inaugural award recognized the Bangladesh Road Safety Project, a $358 million initiative aimed at significantly reducing road traffic fatalities through a groundbreaking multi-sectoral approach.

3. Launch of the Road Safety Calculator

GRSF recently launched an innovative Road Safety Calculator, a first-of-its-kind tool designed to help policymakers evaluate the expected benefits of various road safety strategies. By quantifying potential reductions in deaths and serious injuries per type of intervention (e.g. increasing helmet usage rates by 10%, or installing roadside barriers on high-speed roads), the calculator supports evidence-based decision-making, enabling countries to allocate resources more effectively to maximize the impact of their investments.

4. Road Safety Capacity Building Program

Recognizing the critical role of leadership in driving systemic change, the World Bank's Transport Global Department will soon be launching a capacity building program focused on road safety management. The initiative will provide learning and leadership opportunities for mid- and senior-level managers through interactive workshops, case studies, and site visits. The capacity building program will be modeled on the established Leaders in Urban Transport Planning program, and is affiliated with the World Bank Group Academy.

Optimism for the path ahead

As we look ahead to the Marrakech Ministerial Conference, there is cause for both reflection and optimism. The slight decline in global road deaths reported by more than half of UN Member States demonstrates that progress is possible with the right policies, strategies, and investments in place.

The World Bank’s recent milestones underscore our steadfast commitment to halving road crash fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. Building on this momentum, we will also be launching two new reports at the upcoming Ministerial conference—the first, Financing Road Safety: Catalyzing the Sustainable Finance Market to Bridge the Gap, will highlight new and emerging instruments that can mobilize private capital to fund essential road safety improvements, while the second, Strengthening Road Safety Management (3rd edition), will provide updated tools and methodologies to help countries identify their road safety management priorities.

By integrating road safety into broader development agendas, leveraging data-driven tools, and fostering leadership at all levels, we are helping to build a safer future for all road users. As we reach the midpoint of the Second Decade of Action, the next five years are crucial. Let us harness the momentum, strengthen our partnerships, and commit to life. – World Bank News