Funding shortfall hampers progress on road safety in low- and middle-income countries

Road safety faces extreme underfunding, which hinders the goal of halving global road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

The World Bank provides the data in a press release in which the multilateral development banks call for intensified collaboration and turn to the sustainable finance market to unlock investment and save lives.

The statement notes that every year, road crashes claim the lives of 1.19 million people, leave countless others with some form of permanent disability, and impose significant economic costs.
It explains that low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected, accounting for 92% of all deaths despite having only approximately 60% of the world’s vehicles and only 10% of its paved interurban roads.

It emphasizes that this alarming gap highlights the urgent need for action to address this public health and economic crisis.

The central issue was addressed at a meeting of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) Road Safety Working Group held in Marrakech, Morocco, in the framework of the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety.

The discussions highlighted the urgency of large-scale investment in the road safety agenda to achieve long-term transformative impacts, particularly in middle- and low-income countries.
Multilateral banks called for greater collaboration between national governments, private entities, and the international donor community to address the funding gap and promote road safety initiatives worldwide.

Loans underpinned by public policies and results-based programs are combined with bonds and other sustainable loans as fundamental tools to enable new financing alternatives and ensure that road safety policies and projects generate quantifiable benefits for all road users.
These mechanisms are aligned with global efforts to achieve the United Nations’ goal of halving road traffic deaths by 2030.

Between 2018 and 2024, multilateral development banks worked closely with governments to mobilize more than $6 billion in road safety financing in low—and middle-income countries, enabling a significant decrease in road traffic deaths and injuries. These investments helped improve road infrastructure, reduce the risk of collisions, and implement innovative safety technologies.
According to the report “Financing for Road Safety: Catalyzing the Sustainable Finance Market to Bridge the Gap,” traditional financing mechanisms are inadequate to respond to the challenges posed by the global road safety crisis.

This document, produced jointly by several international institutions, mentions innovative and emerging instruments that can mobilize private capital to finance essential improvements in road safety.

With the growing demand for investment in roads and urban transport, multilateral development banks estimate that their funding for road safety could reach US$10 billion over the next decade.
Strengthening road safety requires a shared commitment, with national governments playing a central role in prioritizing investments in their transportation, health, and law enforcement sectors.
Sustainable financing can complement national efforts, ensuring that road safety remains a strategic priority in national infrastructure plans.

The World Bank’s Vice President for Infrastructure, Guangzhou Chen, pointed out that the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) is one of the main drivers of the increase in World Bank investments in road safety in recent years.

Between 2018 and 2023, projects supported by the Facility helped 65 million people access safer roads and, consequently, saved thousands of lives.

“Investing in road safety is one of our top priorities,” said Chen, emphasizing interventions such as road rehabilitation, crash barriers, vehicle safety standards, better law enforcement, and faster emergency response.

“Despite progress, road traffic accidents remain a serious public health crisis, and increasing funding is critical to saving more lives. Increasing investment in road safety projects, including through sustainable bonds, blended finance and other mechanisms to mobilize private capital, is one way to meet this urgent and growing need.”