Road safety
Road safety
Road crashes constitute a major threat to health and safety. Therefore, with the signing of the UN Strategy on Road Safety by the UNHCR High Commissioner in 2019, the organization actively implements various activities under the 5 pillars of the strategy.
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Funded partners play a crucial role in attending to the needs of forcibly displaced and stateless persons, often needing to travel to remote areas to reach the people in need, for which UNHCR provides vehicles under a Right of Use of Assets.
Consequently, funded partners are expected to:
- follow the Standard Requirements for Operating UNHCR’s Land Motor Vehicles
- implement road safety processes based on the UN Road Safety Strategy.
This strategy has five pillars:
- road safety management
- safer roads and mobility
- safer vehicles
- safer road users
- post-crash response.
UNHCR has therefore created road safety management guidance for partner organizations which is available in our UN partner portal.
The vital role of partner organizations and drivers in realizing Vision Zero
At UNHCR, partnerships are at the heart of our humanitarian operations. Our work would not be possible without the dedication and expertise of partner organizations, who help us deliver protection and assistance to forcibly displaced communities around the world.
Among our valued partners are Medical Teams International (MTI), Action Africa Help International (AAHI), and the African Initiative for Relief and Development (AIRD). These organizations have played a key role in the design of the Safer Partner Programme, a UNHCR-led initiative aimed at enhancing road safety within partner operations.
The Safer Partner Programme focuses on:
Providing tailored training materials for drivers.
Enabling access to Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) data to partner organisations to support road safety initiatives.
Monitoring road safety performance to drive continuous improvement.
Recognising the road safety achievements of the best-performing partner organizations and their best-performing drivers.
With a focus on these areas, the Safer Partner Programme not only promotes safer driving practices but also strengthens accountability and oversight of fleet operations across humanitarian logistics
How to report a traffic crash involving a UNHCR vehicle
Please report it immediately to the UNHCR local office. Select a UNHCR country office from the dropdown below to find local contact details.
Road traffic crash investigations
UNHCR has a frame agreement with TRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Transport Research Foundation. TRL conducts traffic crash root cause analysis to identify the causes of traffic crashes and help develop countermeasures. Learn more about TRL.
Recognition to funded partners
A special mention goes out to AIRD Burundi, whose active participation in the Safer Partner Programme has led to notable improvements in road safety performance. By implementing targeted road-safety plans and consistently monitoring the locations and speeds of vehicles, and driver behaviour, AIRD Burundi has demonstrated how commitment to safety can lead to a measurable impact.
Learn more about the important collaboration between AIRD and UNHCR.
Together with our partners, UNHCR continues to build safer, more effective humanitarian operations—ensuring that help reaches those who need it most, safely and reliably.
Contact us
For more information on road safety initiatives involving partner organizations and governments please email [email protected].