Improving the safety of roads in Latin America and the Caribbean will be the major focus of an agreement between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP).

The agreement will be signed by iRAP CEO Rob McInerney and José Agustín Aguerre, Manager of the Infrastructure and Energy Sector at the IDB, during the Innovation Workshop 2020: Infrastructure Innovation to Achieve the UN Targets by 2030, in Stockholm, Sweden on February 17th. The 5-year agreement will facilitate collaboration between the IDB and iRAP to promote programs and projects to significantly improve the safety of the roads in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Over 110,000 people were killed and more than 1 million were seriously injured in road crashes in Latin America in 2016, at a cost of USD$224 billion or 4.4 per cent of GDP (WHO, 2018).

The partnership will focus on delivering a measurable reduction in road trauma in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Global Road Safety Performance Targets, particularly the Target 3: “By 2030, all new roads achieve technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety, or meet a three star rating or better”; and Target 4: “By 2030, more than 75% of travel on existing roads is on roads that meet technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety”.

The agreement will pave the way to implement Road Assessment Programmes (RAPs), following the iRAP methodology in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will help reduce the number of casualties and serious injuries caused by road accidents in the region.

The work of iRAP and the IDB will also focus on reviewing the methods utilized in evaluating previous investments in road safety infrastructure and providing guidance and recommendations for future investments, with an emphasis on methods for measuring the program effectiveness. Both institutions will also develop communications plans to raise public awareness and training to build capacity compliant with the 3 star or better road safety standard.

By achieving greater than 75 percent of travel in Latin America and the Caribbean on 3-star or better roads by 2030 the region could avoid up to 400,000 fatalities and serious injuries with a benefit of $10 for every $1 spent,, according to iRAP’s Business Case for Safer Roads .

About the Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region.

About the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP)

iRAP is a registered charity with the vision for a world free of high-risk roads. The charity is active in over 100 countries and works with governments, development banks, mobility clubs, research organisations and road safety NGOs to provide them with the free tools, systems and training to make their roads safer. iRAP’s Star Rating Methodology provides a simple and objective measure of the level of safety which is ‘built-in’ to the road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. A 1-star road is the least safe and a 5-star road is the safest. The charity has influenced the safety of over USD$76 billion dollars of infrastructure investment, has Star Rated over 1 million kms of roads and trained over 22,000 people globally. iRAP is the umbrella programme for regional road assessment programmes including EuroRAP, ChinaRAP, AusRAP, usRAP, KiwiRAP, IndiaRAP, BrazilRAP, South Africa RAP, ThaiRAP and MyRAP and is financially supported by the FIA Foundation, Global Road Safety Facility and FedEx.

About the 2020 Innovation Workshop

The 2020 Innovation Workshop is being held from 17-18 February 2020, co-hosted by iRAP, the International Transport Forum and World Bank. It is an official side event of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety focussed on the theme of “Achieving Global Goals 2030”. The Ministerial will be attended by 1,500 delegates including minister-led delegations from 80 United Nations Member States, senior officials from United Nations agencies and representatives from civil society, academia and the private sector. The Conference will provide delegates with the opportunity to share successes and lessons from the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020; chart future strategic directions for global road safety up to 2030 and beyond; and define ways to accelerate action on proven strategies to save lives.