We are facing a global road safety crisis – and it is hitting children above the age of five years old the hardest.
On World Children’s Day, Sunday 20 November, the UN Road Safety Fund launched the second edition of its #moments2live4 global campaign to inform citizens worldwide about the devastating impact of unsafe roads for children and to call for individual donations in support of its $40 million dollar replenishment target. World Children’s Day is also the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
One person dies on the road every 24 seconds across the world and every 24 hours, 500 children die on the roads globally. Moreover, 93% of the 1.3 million global road traffic deaths and 50 million serious road traffic injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries where the Fund and its partners deploy life-saving road safety project interventions from effective post-crash care, to the adoption of region-wide safer vehicle regulations in West Africa, to national systems to improve helmet and child restraint use and safety for pedestrians and cyclists to community-based solutions to improve road design and the installation of road signs and markings, including in school zones.
“Awareness is the first step towards addressing the global road safety challenge. Billions of everyday road users, thousands of corporations and over 100 governments currently sit on the side lines of inaction, largely unaware of the far-reaching dangers for our most vulnerable road users – our children. This campaign is intended to empower everyone with knowledge about how to help keep children safe on the roads” said Nneka Henry, Head of the UN Road Safety Fund. “With support from a wide range of supporters we hope this campaign triggers the additional support to the Fund’s mandate and work in developing countries.”
The #moments2live4 global campaign features a range of supporters from race car drivers; entertainers, world-class athletes, and world leaders from UN agencies after learning about the impact of unsafe roads and unsafe road use on children. Several supporters boast a combined network of up to 50 million social media followers, which will prove invaluable in amplifying the importance of the issue among millions of families who may not have been otherwise aware.
The campaign will be running for 10 weeks until International Day of Education on 24 January 2023.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
