A Successful Partnership with Civil Society to Strengthen Evidence-based Public Policy on Road Safety
PAHO and Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez Work Together to Prevent and Track Traffic-related Injuries and Deaths
In the Americas, there are 15.9 traffic-related deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Traffic-related injuries are currently the leading cause of death in children aged 5 to 14 and the second leading cause in the 15 to 19 age group. While there have been some improvements in institutional management, most countries in the Region have yet to adopt stricter laws to address risk and protective factors.
Fundación Gonzalo “Gonchi” Rodríguez is a non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to eliminate serious injuries and deaths from traffic accidents, by promoting safe and healthy mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This institution was founded in Uruguay in October 2000 by María Fernanda Rodríguez, the younger sister of the Uruguayan race-car driver “Gonchi,” who lost his life in September 1999, the year he became an international driver. The foundation seeks to keep his spirit and legacy alive by working with governments and other road safety stakeholders to create and disseminate relevant knowledge and promote regulations and public policy.
Today, Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez is a benchmark institution on road safety for Latin America and the Caribbean. It has offices in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay and implements projects in several countries in the region.Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez collaborates with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Uruguay on road safety, to reduce the burden that traffic accidents place on the country’s health systems.
Creating and disseminating relevant knowledge to promote public policy and regulations on road safety
Since 2007, Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, the World Health Organization, PAHO, and other institutions have together sponsored training and promoted public policy on road safety in different countries, contributing to knowledge management and engaging the health sector on this issue.
The collaboration between Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez and PAHO in Uruguay began in 2020 as part of efforts to document Uruguay’s progress in implementing the Zero Alcohol Law for motorists (2015) and to conduct research based on national and international publications to determine the impact of alcohol on road accidents.
In 2022, the two entities worked together to prepare the Montevideo case study, documenting the significant progress the city has made on road safety. Montevideo has achieved rates similar to Europe in terms of the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants—more than half the national average.
In May 2023, a joint project was launched with the support of the Government of the Department of Río Negro to implement evidence-based public policies at the local level, promoting safe systems. This project is expected to become a benchmark policy at the national level to phase in low-cost, high-impact solutions throughout the country.
Indeed, the collaboration with Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez has generated knowledge based on documenting good practices and lessons learned, to make the best possible evidence in decision-making processes available to those making and monitoring public policy.
Because of its capacity for advocacy and coordination with governmental and non-governmental actors, Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez is a key partner for PAHO in meeting the goal of preventing and tracking the number of traffic-related deaths and injuries in the Americas. Moreover, its strong commitment and capacity to manage initiatives is an example of how intersectoral actions can strengthen road safety legislation, creating a safer, more accessible, and more sustainable environment for transportation systems and for all users in the countries of the Region of the Americas.