Violence and Injury Prevention

Launch of new infographic on violence against women

One in three women aged 15-49 years will experience physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. A new infographic, launched jointly by the Departments of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, and Reproductive Health and Research in the context of the 66th World Health Assembly, highlights these numbers alongside facts on the severe health and social consequences of intimate partner and sexual violence. It also outlines what the health sector can do in preventing and responding to violence against women.

Second UN Global Road Safety Week 6-12 May kicks off worldwide

More than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world’s roads each year accounting for 22% of the total 1.24 million road traffic deaths. WHO is calling on governments to take concrete actions to improve the safety of pedestrians. Under the banner “Make Walking Safe”, the Second United Nations Global Road Safety Week (6-12 May) kicks off worldwide. With events registered in around 100 countries, the Week seeks to draw attention to the needs of pedestrians; generate action on measures to protect them; and contribute to achieving the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 to save 5 million lives.

WHO launches Global status report on road safety 2013

The Global status report on road safety 2013 serves as a baseline for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, declared by the UN General Assembly. The report presents information on road safety from 182 countries, accounting for almost 99% of the world’s population. It indicates that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths remains unacceptably high at 1.24 million per year, legislation and enforcement are still inadequate, and pedestrians and cyclists need to be better protected. Made possible through funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, this is the second in a series of Global status reports.

New VIP short courses now on offer

VIP short courses are a series of complete training resources addressing a range of injury and violence prevention topics. Each course provides all the materials a facilitator requires to conduct a 2-5 day training. Visit the links below for the latest VIP short courses on child injury prevention and data collection.

fact buffet

Violence

>1 500 000people lose their lives each year to violence

Violence prevention

Road traffic injuries

50%of all people dying on the roads are cyclists, pedestrians, or motorcyclists

Global status report on road safety 2013

Child injuries

2 300children die every day from injuries

World report on child injury prevention

News

  • 21 May 2013

    66th World Health Assembly: Member states call for WHO action plan addressing interpersonal violence with a focus on violence against women and girls

    Around 200 World Health Assembly participants joined today an early morning side event on "Violence against women: health impacts and roles of the health sector." The event was organized by the Governments of Belgium, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States of America, and Zambia with support from the WHO Departments of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability; Reproductive Health and Research; and Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response.

  • 10 May 2013

    Join us on Twitter for a live chat on pedestrian safety

    Dr Margie Peden and Dr Melecki Khayesi from WHO’s Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability will talk about pedestrian safety on Twitter on Friday, 17 May 2013, 15.00-16.00 CET Geneva time (14.00-15.00 UTC/GMT). Join the live chat using the hashtag #walksafechat.

  • 22 April 2013

    WHO and partners release manual on pedestrian safety

    Each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads, while millions are left with injuries or permanent disabilities. Pedestrian safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners, jointly developed by WHO, the FIA Foundation, the Global Road Safety Partnership and the World Bank, and many experts from around the world, provides practical information on how to plan, implement and evaluate a pedestrian safety programme.

  • 12 April 2013

    New method to assess how ready a country is to tackle child maltreatment

    WHO’s Prevention of Violence Team has developed a new method to assess the readiness – or capacity – of a country to implement programmes to prevent child maltreatment on a large scale. There are two options when using this new method, called the Readiness Assessment for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment (RAP-CM): a rapid assessment, using a short questionnaire administered to key informants or a full and detailed assessment, which requires a small research team to carry out.

  • 4 April 2013

    Third Global Meeting of NGOs for Road Safety and Road Traffic Injury Victims hosted in Turkey

    The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, with support from the International Police Association in Turkey and a number of other partners, hosted the Third Global Meeting of NGOs for Road Safety and Road Traffic Injury Victims on 3-4 April in Antalya, Turkey.

  • 3 April 2013

    Turkey’s Prime Minister launches national plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and the Road Safety Platform

    Around 800 people attended the launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and the opening ceremony of the Road Safety Platform in Turkey. The newly established Road Safety Platform will be given the task of implementing the national Decade plan to halve road traffic deaths.