Announcements: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 15, 2015

Announcements: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 15, 2015

MMWR Weekly Vol. 64, No. 44 November 13, 2015

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Announcement: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 15, 2015

Weekly

November 13, 2015 / 64(44);1258

In October 2005, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution (1) calling for governments and nongovernmental organizations to mark the third Sunday in November each year as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The theme of this year's World Day of Remembrance is "From Global Remembrance to Global Action Across the Decade."

Road traffic crashes kill approximately 3,500 persons each day and injure or disable approximately 20 million each year around the world (2). Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among persons aged 10–24 years worldwide, and the leading cause of death to those in the first 3 decades of life in the United States.

CDC has declared motor vehicle injuries a "winnable battle" and supports UN and World Health Organization (WHO) efforts to dedicate 2011–2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety (3). The Decade of Action was launched in May 2011 in more than 100 countries with the goal of preventing five million road traffic deaths globally by 2020. The UN General Assembly is also committed to efforts to halve the number of global road traffic deaths and injuries by 2020 as part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (4).

World Remembrance Day is dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashes as well as their families and communities, and also pays tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who deal with the traumatic aftermath of road death and injury. Ancillary materials are available to provide organizations with action strategies to support victims and survivors (5). Additional information about the World Day of Remembrance is available at http://www.worlddayofremembrance.org. Additional information about CDC's motor vehicle injury prevention activities is available athttp://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety.

References

1. United Nations. Improving global road safety. Resolution 60/5. New York, NY: United Nations General Assembly; 2005.
2. World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety 2015. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2015. Available athttp://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2015.
3. CDC. Launch of Decade of Action for Global Road Safety—May 11, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011;60:554.
4. United Nations. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UN Resolution A/70/1. New York, NY: United Nations General Assembly; 2015.
5. World Health Organization. Advocating for road safety and road traffic injury victims: a guide for nongovernmental organizations. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization and Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety; 2012. Available athttp://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/ngo_guide.