A regional workshop on improving road safety legislation and enforcement in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 28–30 April 2025. The event, hosted and organized by the General Secretariat of the Ministerial Traffic Safety Committee (MTSC), Saudi Arabia, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed to identify gaps in current road safety legislation and enforcement, share updated evidence on risk factors and interventions and develop draft strategic directions for GCC states.
Road traffic injuries are a global public health and development concern. In 2021, 11% of estimated global deaths due to traffic crashes occurred in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Road traffic crashes affect all the Region’s countries, regardless of income-level. Despite progress made by high-income countries, the overall road traffic death rate for these countries in the Region is almost twice the average global rate.
The workshop was opened by Mr Mooath Mohammed Aldossari on behalf of MTSC General Secretary Eng. Ajdal Mohammed Al-Sulami, and the Director, Healthier Populations, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Asmus Hammerich. It brought together representatives of concerned stakeholders from Gulf countries, including legislators and representatives of enforcement institutions, and concerned technical teams from WHO and regional and global partners, including the Gulf Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Gulf CDC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the African Union and African Road Safety Observatory, Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) and the European Roads Policing Network (ROADPOL).
The workshop adopted a participatory approach. Consultative pre-workshop sessions were conducted with national teams to identify legislative and enforcement priorities and local needs.
Laws and regulations and their enforcement are important components of any comprehensive road safety system. The workshop aimed to build on progress made in road safety in GCC countries and strengthen existing road safety legislation within a common vision across GCC countries that takes into account the provisions of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the UN General Assembly resolution A/78/L.78 on improving global road safety which invites Member States to consider adopting comprehensive legislation on key risk factors and becoming contracting parties to United Nations legal instruments on road safety.
Countries’ experiences in the area of road traffic legislation and enforcement were a major focus of the workshop which included presentations on regional and global developments, the status of legislation in GCC countries, current Gulf CDC strategies to support road safety efforts in the Region and road safety regulatory frameworks across African Union Member States.
Plenary sessions and group work focused on aligning road safety legislation with best practices within an overall safe system approach, underlining key issues such as speed management, the safety of young drivers, distracted driving, helmet and child restraints, vehicle safety standards and related UN regulations, road user behaviour and the psychology of policing, enhancing research capacity and strengthening enforcement data.
The workshop resulted in a preliminary draft of strategic directions for strengthening legislation and enforcement in GCC countries which can be tailored to country specific contexts.
Post-workshop consultations will take place to finalize the strategic directions and their implementation as part of overall efforts to improve road safety at country level.
Related links
WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023
Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030
Strategic action framework to strengthen road safety systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Documenting road safety: a guide for governments and lead agencies
Strategic action framework to improve access to assistive technology in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
