Working through UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research) and its global network of International Training Centres for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL), the UN and the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (RACE) have reached an agreement by which the two institutions will work together to train professionals and improve road safety through CIFAL Madrid, the first specialised UN centre in the world dedicated to this subject. A training plan has been designed to boost strategies and skills programmes, leading to the creation of a private postgraduate degree, continuous training courses, a programme of seminars and a schedule of events, as well as specialist day-long sessions and encounters with world-renowned authorities in the field of road safety.

International studies have shown that injuries from traffic accidents cause over 1.2 million deaths every year around the world, are the ninth cause of death among all age groups at global level, and the main cause of death among young people of 15-29 years of age. The UNITAR initiative in the area of road safety, which RACE has joined through the CIFAL Centre in Madrid, aims to contribute towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.6: “By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents,” by contributing to the improvement in the behaviour of road users through raising awareness, training professionals who can then boost preventive measures, and extending knowledge of risk factors among the general population.