About the Asia Pacific Road Safety
The APRSO is the regional forum on road safety data, policies and practices to ensure the protection of human life on the roads across Asia and the Pacific. It provides a platform for governments, international organizations, research institutions and private sector partners to share experiences and learn about best practices to address the ongoing road safety epidemic.
The establishment of the APRSO was announced in February 2020 on the eve of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden.
APRSO was established by a group of international development organizations:
- Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- The World Bank Group
- Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA)
- International Transport Forum (ITF)
- United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
The ADB serves as the secretariat of the APRSO.
Find out more about the APRSO through our Factsheet.
The road safety situation in Asia-Pacific remains one of the most pressing public health emergencies across the region. Despite some limited improvements in the rate of people dying on the roads, the scale of the issue remains significant.
- The WHO reports that 28% of all road fatalities occur in the WHO South-East Asia region and 25% of global deaths occur in the Western Pacific Region
- According to ADB estimates, on average 2000 people lose their lives every day due to road crashes in the region.
- Road crashes remain the top cause of death for young people aged 5 – 29 globally.
There remain critical gaps and needs across road safety policy and management in Asia-Pacific, including data collation, management and sharing, poor infrastructure, the lack of policies that align with global best practice, and challenges in funding, implementation, and enforcement. These continue to impact progress towards the 50% reduction in road deaths and serious injuries outlined in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 – 2030.
The APRSO harnesses the expertise and resources of the development community and road safety stakeholders towards reduction of road traffic fatalities and serious injuries across Asia and the Pacific.
The Asia and the Pacific as a safe and sustainable transportation environment where safe mobility is a fundamental right for every individual.
The APRSO is a concerted effort by the development community and road safety stakeholders to better support countries in Asia and the Pacific in their efforts to drastically reduce road traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The objectives of APRSO are to:
- Collect, manage and analyse an Asia and Pacific regional database for road crashes in Member countries, facilitating on-going applied research and data-driven interventions.
- Provide research and technical assistance for Members on road crash data collection systems, standards and norms.
- Share research, evidence and technical material, software and necessary tools for collecting and analysing road crash data.
- Share evidence and foster dialogue on road safety within Asia and the Pacific.
- Support the creation of a governing body and a lead agency for road safety in every Member state, as well as strengthen existing ones.
- Provide capacity building on technical issues and evidence based guidelines related to road safety.
- Establish cooperation agreements for implementing and evaluating road safety action plans among Members.
- Monitor the progress on road safety of each Member.
- Promote good practice on national and regional road safety policies and strategies.
- Informed by research and evidence help assess how to reduce factors that lead to serious road injuries in Member states.
OUR MEMBERS
The APRSO currently comprises twenty-seven (27) member countries from across Asia and the Pacific.
The APRSO also welcomes non-voting members, who are relevant stakeholders comprising private sector firms, non-government organizations, and the academe interested in promoting and achieving better road safety outcomes.
