On 18-19 November 2015, for only the second time in history, ministers of transport, health and interior and their representatives convened in Brasilia, Brazil to address the global road safety crisis.
The 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety, which gathered 2200 delegates from more than 110 countries including key speakers such as Ms Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil, and Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, defined the urgent measures needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s ambitious target to halve road traffic deaths by the end of this decade.
Hosted by the Government of Brazil and co-sponsored by WHO, the Conference followed the release in October 2015 of the WHO Global status report on road safety 2015. The report indicates that despite improvements in road safety, some 1.25 million people die each year on the world’s roads. It warns that while the number of road traffic deaths is stabilizing - despite rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles worldwide and a growing population - the pace of change is too slow.
The Conference adopted the “Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety”, which will guide action through the end of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and beyond.