21 September 2021, New York, USA – Improving road safety globally requires solutions that can be implemented consistently over the next decade. UNITAR, the Ministry of Transport of the Federal District of Brazil, and AB InBev gathered in New York to present the “Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit – The Immersive Virtual Experience”.  

Through the Virtual Reality experience, UNITAR and AB InBev give participants a glimpse into a management methodology presented in the "Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit." The toolkit helps conduct road assessments and identify corrective measures to reduce deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes. It uses examples of successful interventions implemented in the Federal District in Brazil to guide users on how to improve road safety initiatives.

The event was hosted by Mr. Nikhil Seth, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR; by Mr. Michel Doukeris, CEO of AB InBev; and by Valter Casimiro, Secretary of Transportation and Mobility of the Federal District of Brazil.

Mr. Seth stressed the importance of developing such tools, in line with UNITAR’s strategic objective of optimizing the use of technologies to deliver training and practical know-how, while also reaching a greater number of beneficiaries:

By providing an immersive learning experience and gamified digital tools, we seek to promote learning about practical interventions that lead to reductions in the number of deaths and injuries related to road traffic crashes.

Mr. Doukeris highlighted the importance of partnerships to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 17:

Building a better, more inclusive and equal world is a task that can only be achieved when we work together. Today’s event is a testament to what partnerships can accomplish. The strength of our business comes from the local communities where we live and work, that’s why we are committed to ensuring effective road safety transport systems and safer roads across our communities. This is a great example of how at AB InBev, we’re leveraging our digital transformation capabilities to make a positive impact in our communities..

Mr. Casimiro shared the success of Brasília Vida Segura, which is a collaborative and comprehensive programme implemented by the Government of the Federal District in Brazil that has contributed to reducing the number of road traffic deaths between 2010 and 2020 by 54 percent, fulfilling the United Nations Road Safety target. Brasília Vida Segura is an example of practical and tailor-made interventions that have led to positive outcomes in the Federal District of Brazil. Since the beginning of the programme, more than 540 lives have been saved.

The first Immersive Virtual Experience video showcases the pilot project implemented in the Federal District of Brazil, with a total of nine interventions carried out in five identified high-risk areas (“crash hotspots”). This interactive example showed that achieving road safety targets is possible and that it requires efforts such as improving existing road infrastructure for the benefit of all road users, especially the most vulnerable.

In the future, the Immersive Virtual Experience will include other cities from around the world.