BANGKOK – June 2-5, 2025

During the first week of June, the UNESCAP Road Safety Week was hosted in Bangkok. The AIP Foundation Senior Leadership team headed by Greig Craft, were delighted to attend and participate. The Road Safety Week brought together policymakers, technical experts, and road safety advocates from across Asia, Europe, and beyond.

Organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the event aimed to strengthen global cooperation toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets 3.6 and 11.2a—focused on halving road traffic deaths and ensuring access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems by 2030.

A series of activities were held throughout the week, including special sessions on United Nations road safety legal instruments – namely, the Special Session of the Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety (Special Session I) and the informal part of the 22nd session of the Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (Special Session II).

Speakers from AIP Foundation Thailand and Vietnam, the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand (RAAT), and the Automobile Association of Vietnam (AA Vietnam) were invited to attend a formal meeting of the Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety (WP.1), which explored updates to international legal instruments and shared global best practices.

Ratana H. Winther, Chairperson for AIP Foundation Thailand shared about the success of the ‘Safeguard’ project supported by the FIA Foundation, which aims to improve motorcycle helmet use among riders and passengers in Thailand, including children and vulnerable road users. During this session, Ratana presented high-level policy recommendations based on evidence gathered from the project research, as well as actions the government can take forward.

Phong Le, Country Manager for AIP Foundation in Vietnam, presented at the Expert Group Meeting on Road Safety – Session 3: Addressing road safety key risk factors in the post-Marrakech period. Speakers in this session also included representatives from WHO (Dr. Nhan Tran), IRTE, India (Dr. Rohit Baluja), iRAP (Greg Smith), and Independent Experts (Dr. Maria Segui-Gomez, Blair Turner, and Martin Small). Phong’s presentation highlighted AIP Foundation’s advocacy efforts in collaboration with GRSP and funded by the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety, to address the five key risk factors, focusing on the advocacy process for Child Restraint Systems regulation, which was included in the New Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (June 2024). The presentation also highlighted the positive changes in the regulatory framework on five key risk factors.

As part of Agenda Item 7: Global Dialogue and Contribution to Road Safety Capacity Building, presentations from RAAT, and AA Vietnam highlighted impactful community-based approaches, youth engagement strategies, and cross-sector collaboration aimed at building sustainable road safety capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.

“It was a privilege for us to participate in this important event and to share our work on community-based approaches, youth engagement strategies, and cross‐sector collaboration aimed at building sustainable road safety capacity in the Asia Pacific region. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the global dialogue on road safety capacity building,” shared Greig Craft, FIA Region II President and Founder and President of AIP Foundation.

AIP Foundation acknowledges the generous support of the FIA, whose funding made it possible for team members to attend the Road Safety Week in Bangkok this year. This support reflects the FIA’s ongoing commitment to advancing road safety and sustainable mobility across the world, and enables greater regional collaboration, knowledge exchange, and impact across FIA Region II, Asia Pacific.

Overall, the Road Safety Week raised awareness among government officials and road safety stakeholders about the importance of road safety policies in aligning with SDG targets, enhancing knowledge and understanding of UN road safety legal instruments, and promoting dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders to strengthen commitments toward creating safer road transport systems.