The eighth UN Global Road Safety Week begins on 12 May. This year, the international campaign, requested by the United Nations General Assembly, focuses on walking and cycling.
The campaign provides an opportunity to advocate for national and local action to make walking and cycling safer through evidence-based interventions grounded in a comprehensive safe system approach. Actions to enhance safety – examples are indicated in the figure below – can be implemented by a range of stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, corporations, schools, communities and civil society.
Safe walking and cycling have a direct impact on road safety, contribute to making people and societies healthier and help ensure that cities are equitable and sustainable. Walking, cycling and other forms of physical activity contribute to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Regular physical activity helps prevent overweight and obesity, balances hormone levels, strengthens the immune system and enhances digestion, reducing the risk of breast, colon and endometrial cancers and the chances of strokes, diabetes and hypertension.
By enhancing mental and brain health and reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, walking and cycling have positive implications for overall health and well-being. Among children and adolescents, these activities encourage healthy growth and muscle development and improve motor and cognitive development. Safe walking and cycling also enhance urban transport systems, helping to prevent road traffic injuries and reduce air and noise pollution.
The Global Status Report for Road Safety 2023 reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region accounts for 11% of road traffic fatalities worldwide and has the second highest road traffic death rate of all WHO regions. Pedestrians and cyclists make up more than 30% of road traffic deaths in the Region, the second highest proportion of pedestrian deaths among traffic fatalities globally.
The Report examined interventions that countries of the Region are implementing to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, from having safe crossings (11 countries) to insurance on bicycles (2 countries).
The importance of promoting safe walking and cycling has been underlined in consecutive UN General Assembly resolutions. Both A/74/L.86 (2020) and A/RES/78/290 (2024) urge Member States to adopt a safe system approach that strengthens laws, infrastructure and planning to protect pedestrians and cyclists and promote walking, cycling and public transport as integral parts of an optimal mix of motorized and non-motorized mobility, thereby reducing traffic deaths, injuries and related noncommunicable diseases, especially in urban areas.
The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030 and the Strategic action framework to strengthen road safety systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region propose evidence-based cost-effective measures for country-level implementation to ensure that walking and cycling are safe for all and an integral part of multimodal transport systems, fully incorporated into relevant development initiatives.
The eighth UN Global Road Safety Week comes at a significant time in the current Decade of Action for Road Safety. It follows the endorsement of the 2025 Marrakech Declaration by Member States during the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety which reinforced countries’ commitment to make walking and cycling safe for all.
It is essential we use the opportunity of the Week to build on current momentum. Collective efforts and actions to implement walking and pedestrian-friendly inclusive interventions should be scaled up so road safety is improved at all levels, helping to achieve Decade of Action and Sustainable Development Goals targets and reduce road traffic deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030.