The African Street Security Constitution entered into pressure on 12 March 2026. The Constitution marks Africa’s first continental and legally-binding street security framework.
Adopted by African Heads of State in 2016, 15 African Union Member States had been required to ratify the Constitution and deposit an instrument of ratification on the African Union for it to come back into impact. The Republic of Mozambique turned the fifteenth nation to do that on 11 February 2026.
“This ratification is a robust political assertion to protect human life and advance Africa’s collective imaginative and prescient of safer roads, safer automobiles and safer street customers. The Constitution’s entry into pressure provides us the authorized basis we have to maintain governments accountable and drive actual progress,” stated Lerato D. Mataboge, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Vitality.
Street deaths rose by 17% within the decade to 2021 within the WHO African Area, with almost 250 000 fatalities per 12 months. A number of African nations decreased street fatalities in recent times, but the Area nonetheless holds the world’s highest street fatality charge.
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The Constitution compels signatories to take actions which might be in keeping with the International Plan for the Decade of Motion for Street Security 2021-2030 and African Street Security Motion Plan 2021-2030 which supply steerage for nations to fulfill the objective of halving street deaths and critical accidents by 2030. These embrace:
- establishing a nationwide street security company to coordinate street security coverage;
- enacting and imposing legal guidelines that meet world greatest practices on the 5 key street security threat elements – rushing, drink-driving, helmet use, seat belt use, and little one restraints;
- growing nationwide street crash information programs to tell evidence-based coverage;
- investing in secure street infrastructure and automobile security requirements; and
- strengthening pre-hospital and post-crash emergency care.
“The entry into pressure of the African Street Security Constitution is a significant milestone for Africa. That is precisely the type of systemic, legally-binding intervention that may assist flip the rising variety of street deaths round. Rooted in confirmed options, it’s a clear dedication to pressing motion. We urge all African Union Member States to ratify and implement this landmark Constitution,” stated Dr Nhan Tran, Head, Violence and Harm Prevention at WHO.
WHO, in assist of the African Union Fee and the African Street Security Observatory, performed a key function within the course of resulting in the Constitution’s entry into pressure, advocating in any respect ranges for ratification and implementation, and dealing with African nations to strengthen street security laws, enhance information and surveillance programs, develop nationwide street security methods, strengthen emergency care programs, and construct the capability of nationwide street security businesses.
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WHO’s International Standing Report on Street Security, the world’s main street security information useful resource, supplied the proof base for the Constitution’s advocacy, with nation profiles giving a transparent image of progress.
The 15 AU Member States which have ratified the Constitution and deposited devices of ratification up to now are: Benin, Central African Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.