The Global Road Safety Facility received an initial donation of $5 million from the World Bank, $5 million from the FIA Foundation and €1 million from the Government of the Netherlands. The Facility, which will be managed by the World Bank, aims to generate increased funding and technical assistance for global, regional and country level initiatives designed to enable low and middle income countries to implement their own road safety programmes.
 
The ultimate objective is to help reduce the high number of road deaths and injuries in developing countries. More than 2.5 million lives could be saved and 200 million injuries avoided if fatality rates in poorer countries were reduced a further 30 per cent by 2020.
 
David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation, said: “This initiative will alert governments to the need for urgent coordinated action to prevent a global catastrophe. Will the international community really stand back and allow millions to be killed and maimed every year, when we already have available the solutions and tools to prevent this hidden epidemic which