The 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety was held in Marrakech, Morocco, 18-20 February 2025, hosted by the Moroccan Government and WHO. The theme of the Ministerial Conference was “One world, one road: commit to life” and brought together over 5000 delegates comprising government Ministers, road safety experts, academics, NGOs, youth, and private sector to accelerate progress toward SDG 3.6 to have road deaths and injuries by 2030.
We thank the hosts as well as our sponsors FIA Foundation, Fundación Aleatica, TotalEnergies Foundation, and Uber for a successful NGO outing at the Ministerial Conference.
The Alliance mobilized and represented its member NGOs at the Ministerial Conference. We made sure that civil society’s voice was heard loud and clear through the NGO Regional Meetings, NGO Symposium, call to action, parallel session on accountability, side event on helmet safety, the Alliance booth, and much more.
Read key highlights in our report on NGOs’ activities and impact at the Ministerial Conference.
Read about each of our key activities below.
The Alliance held four NGO Regional Meetings at the Ministerial Conference comprising the Africa Chapter, Asia Chapter, Latin America Chapter, and the North America/Europe/Australia meetings.
Participants from all around the world actively shared experiences, identified challenges, and strategized on leveraging advocacy tools, capacity-building initiatives, and partnerships with governments, private sectors, and academia. Read more about the Regional Meetings HERE.
The Alliance and YOURS-Youth for Road Safety organized the #CommittoLife Walk and Ride in support of the upcoming UN Global Road Safety Week which will be held 12-18 May 2025. kicked off with a civil society call to action at a community event organized by the Agence nationale de la sécurité routière of Morocco.
Youth coalition and NGO speakers described their experiences of the street and called for decision makers to commit to urgent action toward the 2030 targets. Following the call to action, a group of cyclists headed off around the city, while a group of pedestrians with signboards walked back to the Palais de Congres.
The NGO Symposium demonstrated that moving from commitments to accountability for safer roads require a collaborative approach where government policies, community advocacy, private sector involvement and sustainable financing must converge.
The Symposium, co-hosted with WHO and the Government of Morocco and in partnership with FIA Foundation, convened civil society, youth, global stakeholders, government authorities, and the private sector. Read more HERE.
The parallel session on why accountability matters in road safety highlighted the importance of accountability and commitment in achieving global road safety targets, using data to monitor and evaluate performance, and the importance of multi stakeholder engagement in navigating challenges in implementing road safety interventions.
It also demonstrated the need to humanize road safety data using personal narratives on the realities of unsafe roads, using innovative tools to monitor accountability, and the need for overarching leadership for creating safer streets. Read more HERE.
Following the launch of the helmet white paper, the Alliance held a side event on safe and affordable helmets at the Ministerial Conference to delve deeper into the messages raised in the white paper. The event brought together advocates and experts from civil society, international organizations, private sector, and government officials.
The discussion highlighted the need for measuring helmet safety according to defined criteria, gaps in regulating standard helmets and enforcing their use, the need to address the proliferation of counterfeits and how to go about it, and the role of all stakeholders in ensuring helmet safety. Read more HERE.
The Alliance’s booth in the Ministerial Conference was a hub for Alliance members during the week. It served as a meeting point, a place for NGOs to bring their delegations, an opportunity to listen to NGOs describing the realities faced by road users and road victims, and a space to explain the solutions to make people’s journeys safe. At least six heads of delegation visited the booth, often with member NGOs from their country.
It featured a touch-and-feel display of helmets, and Mobility Snapshots, as well as Yesterman painting the artwork and a series of head-to-head conversations on safe mobility.
NGOs held a debrief session at the end of the conference to discuss next steps in ensuring that commitments made are followed through with and that decision makers are held accountable.
NGOs will be following up with their country’s delegation to put global principles into local context. They will be using tools such as the Mobility Snapshots, helmet white paper, and Accountability Toolkit to support their conversations and advocacy with their governments. The Alliance will be providing more resources and opportunities to help NGOs convert commitment into accountability.
If your government made a commitment, check what it contained via the livestream and consider the steps needed to implement it. If information is missing from the commitment, such as a target date or how it will be financed, follow up on these to help strengthen the commitment.
The Alliance received a prize in the Ministerial Conference film festival for a short animation produced for our Safer Cycling Advocate Program, which was supported by FedEx. The animation promotes the need for more space for cyclists and won in the category of sustainable cities and communities.
Several Alliance members also won awards for their advocacy and action in their countries. Congratulations.
The Alliance booth featured Yesterman, a Mexican artist, painting an artwork symbolizing the Alliance’s call for safe mobility. The painting was supported by Fundacion Aleatica. The painting was presented to the Government of Morocco at the closing ceremony.
Check out the Marrakech Declaration HERE. Catch up on other activities at the Ministerial Conference HERE.
