23-29 April 2007

First UN Global Road Safety Week 23-29 April 2007

07th May 2007

The First United Nations Global Road Safety Week was called for in the October 2005 United Nations General Assembly resolution A/60/5 on Improving global road safety. The resolution invites the United Nations Regional Commissions and the World Health Organization (WHO) to jointly organize the Week. The Week will be modelled after previous road safety weeks orchestrated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and after World Health Day 2004.

The theme for the Week will be "young road users" - as young people constitute a major group at risk of death, injury and disability on the road. While the focus is on young road users, it is hoped that the actions resulting from the Week will benefit road users of all ages. During the course of the Week which will be held from 23-29 April 2007, it is envisioned that a large number of local, national and international events will be hosted all over the world. Many partners will participate in these events including governments, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.

The main objectives of this First United Nations Global Road Safety Week 2007 are to:

• Raise awareness about the societal impact of road traffic injuries, highlighting the risks for young road users.
• Promote action around key factors which have a major impact on preventing road traffic injuries: helmets, seat-belts, drink driving, speeding and infrastructure.

The slogan for the Week, "Road Safety is No Accident", highlights the fact that road safety happens not by accident, but through the deliberate efforts on the part of many individuals and many sectors of society - governmental and nongovernmental alike.

World Youth Assembly meets to tackle road safety

23 APRIL 2007 | GENEVA -- Young people from more than 100 countries gathered today at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, for the first ever World Youth Assembly for Road Safety and to mark the first UN Global Road Safety Week.

In the Youth Declaration for Road Safety agreed by delegates to the Assembly, all 400 young people commit to taking practical measures to improve road safety and call upon other young people to do the same. The delegates pledge to wear seatbelts and motorcycle helmets and to avoid speeding and drink-driving.

The declaration calls on all young people to "stand up and participate in local and national campaigns and programmes" and urges adults to do more: "We call upon you our parents and guardians, our heroes and mentors to serve as role models," says the introduction to the declaration.

The declaration also calls for more political will at national and community level to tackle road safety. It urges schools and universities to teach young people about safety, bartenders to serve alcohol responsibly, media to report more widely and more responsibly about the lack of road safety, and celebrities and the entertainment industry not to glamourize speed and to wear seatbelts and helmets.