Road Safety in Kyrgyzstan

We support road safety in Kyrgyzstan through our local partners Road Safety NGO. Founded with an EASST grant, Road Safety was the first non-governmental organisation in the Kyrgyz Republic dedicated to promoting road safety and reducing road casualties. Through targeted education and advocacy campaigns Road Safety aims to reduce the toll of road deaths and injuries in Kyrgyzstan, improve road safety governance and public policy, influence road user behaviour, encourage improvements in driver training and promote sustainable mobility.

The road safety situation in the Kyrgyz Republic requires serious attention. Based on the Asian Development Bank formula for costing road casualties, the scale of death and injury on the roads of Kyrgyzstan cost the economy around $250 million in 2011, or 4.3% of GDP. At 2,190 deaths per million vehicles the road safety problem in the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the worst in the world. The primary victims of crashes in the Kyrgyz Republic are pedestrians, who account for 44% of crashes and 34.5% of deaths – among the highest proportions in the UNECE area.

Road Safety NGO work to keep road safety on the agenda of the Kyrgyz Government. Director, Chinara Kasmambetova was a lead contributor to the document “Complex of measures to be taken in the area of road safety in the Kyrgyz Republic”, which was signed by the President in 2017. She is also a member of the working group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs which is drafting a National Strategy on Road Safety and sits on the selection committee of the Traffic Police.

In all its work Road Safety NGO collaborates closely with state organisations like the Mayor’s Office, the Traffic Police, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other stakeholders.