More than 1.35 million people die as a result of road crashes each year and with an additional 50 million being seriously injured. Road traffic injuries and deaths have a significant impact on individuals under the age of 18, who account for more than 186,000 of the road traffic deaths annually. Road traffic incidents are the 8th leading cause of death globally and this can be prevented.

The Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge builds on growing global recognition of population shifts to urban areas and the impact of urbanization on public health. The Challenge also sees cities – particularly intermediary cities – as great potential agents of change and incubators for innovation.

The World Health Organization released a package in 2017, Save LIVES, which provides an evidence-based inventory of priority interventions to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries. These interventions are critically important at both a national and local level and the Challenge is aligned with these. They include:

• Reducing speeding.
• Enforcing evidence-based road traffic laws.
• Providing leadership on road safety.
• Improving and managing post-crash care.
• Improving infrastructure design.
• Establishing vehicle safety standards.

Fondation Botnar funds the challenge, and it is managed by the Global Road Safety Partnership, a hosted programme of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies and based in Geneva, Switzerland.

More information here.