GRSF 2020 Annual Report

GRSF 2020 Annual Report

Fiscal year 2020 (July 1st, 2019 to June 30th, 2020) has been an extraordinarily successful year of growth and delivery for the World Bank's Global Road Safety Facility, across all its work programs, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current tragic experience with COVID-19 also provides guidance on re-design of road safety work and cities as well as ideally generating revamped government accountability for health externalities caused by traffic, particularly road crashes and fatalities through the visible benefits of reduced traffic. Along with all the suffering, loss, and upheaval of COVID-19, we have the opportunity to evolve. GRSF is committed to working on capturing key issues in which road safety and COVID-19 collide to improve road safety long term. In these times of uncertainty our partnerships are becoming stronger, especially in sharing research.

This outstanding work was recognized in the 2020 edition of Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards, in which the World Bank GRSF won three prestigious awards in collaboration with many partners.

FY20 was also an exceptional year for donors: in recognition of GRSF success, the donor support grew to be stronger and more sustainable than ever before: The GRSF program was assessed as very successful by the UK Government among numerous UK Aid-funded initiatives. In addition, Bloomberg Philanthropies signed a new agreement with GRSF for a 6- year partnership (BIGRS 2020-2025), in which we play a key role in supporting government’s efforts to adopt safer road designs, improve existing road networks, improve crash data, and enhance management of speed to accommodate all road users, by hosting a Speed Management Hub.

GRSF also welcomed Total Foundation as a new donor, permitting broader capacity building actions in support of one of the Bank’s flagship projects – the African Road Safety Observatory. GRSF also re-signed additional contributions from CITA as a donor.

The emphasis on road safety issues in LMICs sets the GRSF Research Program apart. This Program recognizes business needs and effectively addresses knowledge gaps. Critical road safety knowledge generated by GRSF and its diverse partners (universities, MDBs, academia, applied experts) has been widely disseminated globally in FY20. GRSF developed and published the first road safety country profiles report and a comprehensive guide for determining readiness for speed cameras. GRSF’s evidence-based knowledge products and policy developments delivered in FY20 have already had demonstrable impact on road and urban projects in the year.

These activities led GRSF to deliver an impressive participation in the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety last February. The Facility’s representation was instrumental in reviewing the progress made with the Global Goals 2030 and defining ways to accelerate action on proven strategies to save lives refining the Stockholm Declaration. With the launch of those major research reports, the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference was a vital opportunity for GRSF to influence the global road safety agenda, as well as enhance the World Bank and GRSF profiles and reputations.

Within World Bank operations, GRSF has been a key advocate, influencer and trainer in road safety for World Bank projects and staff. This fiscal year GRSF led the World Bank’s approach to road safety to a new paradigm: a more deeply systematic, consistent and better-informed paradigm. This was achieved though the delivery of key knowledge products, stronger policy, effective training, and collaborative work with many teams.

The following report highlights different examples on how GRSF’s strong strategic focus, dedicated approach, and committed expert team have generated substantial improvement on road safety performance during FY20 – positioning the World Bank and GRSF as influential global partners in advancing the road safety agenda globally.

BY THE NUMBERS GRSF ACTION & IMPACT IN FY20 ⌵︎