26 October 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR and the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (RACE) renewed its three-year cooperation agreement to continue to build capacity through CIFAL Madrid - the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Madrid.

The CIFAL Centre will continue to provide learning opportunities and will facilitate knowledge sharing between public officials and leaders from Ibero-America in topics related to road safety management, transport and mobility. The capacity building activities of the Centre aim to contribute to SDG 3.6, which makes an urgent call to “halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents”.

Through a collaboration with the European University, CIFAL Madrid created in 2018 the Postgraduate Programme on Road Safety Leadership and Management, bringing together 40 experts on traffic, safety, mobility, leadership and management. This programme has greatly contributed to strengthen capacities of 39 government officials, policy makers, and road safety professionals who successfully completed the programme and graduated in the 2018 and 2019 classes.

Between 2018 and 2020, CIFAL Madrid has implemented over 40 learning activities (face to face and online), reaching some 4,000 beneficiaries from countries in Ibero-America. Despite of the COVID-19 mobility restrictions, CIFAL Madrid continued to provide its training courses by expanding its online offer on road safety. The 2020 edition of the Postgraduate Programme on Road Safety Leadership and Management will be fully offered online between 23 November 2020 and 23 March 2021.

“CIFAL Centers play a key role in reinforcing capacities through training and learning. CIFAL Madrid is a model of collaboration to build best practices and exchange knowledge in relevant fields such as road safety, transport and mobility. Government officials, leaders from the private sector and civil society have benefited from CIFAL Madrid’s learning activities since its inception”, Mr. Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR.

“The renewal of our collaborative agreement with UNITAR is a recognition of the work we have done since 2017 to reduce risk factors related to road traffic crashes and injuries. Over the next three years we will continue to promote training opportunities for professionals in this field. We remain committed to develop tools to support countries with cutting-edge knowledge and innovative strategies that contribute to reduce fatalities and injuries caused by road traffic crashes”, Mr. Carmelo Sanz de Barros, President of the RACE and CIFAL Madrid highlighted.

Road traffic crashes claim more than 1.35 million lives each year. Nearly 3,700 people die on the world’s roads every day. In Latin America, the fatality rate due to road traffic crashes (17 deaths per 100,000 population) is on the rise and it is almost twice the level observed in high-income countries (10 per 100,000 population) (IDB, 2018). The collaboration between UNITAR and RACE seeks to make a contribution to the reduction of fatalities and injuries associated with road traffic crashes by building capacities, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and promoting partnerships.