People Power meets Paint and Partnership: Zebra crossing repainting near the Dandora Community Centre in Dandora, Nairobi. Photo credit: Please use better image size/height&width ratio. Hii iko distorted. Please credit the photographer
This May, during the 8th United Nations Global Road Safety Week, UN-Habitat – through its Global Alliance of Cities for Road Safety (ACRoS) – joined hands with grassroots partners, local government stakeholders and two school communities in two cities in Kenya to respond to the call to make walking and cycling safe. From Nairobi to coastal Mombasa, residents, school children, and partners implemented local road safety actions to commemorate the global road safety week between the 12th and 18th May, 2025.
In Nairobi’s Dandora neighbourhood, unsafe streets are the daily reality for thousands of residents who rely on walking as their primary mode of transport. These streets often lack the basics like sidewalks, safe crossings, lighting, or safe spaces for cycling. Speeding vehicles and poor or non-existent walking and cycling infrastructure create life-threatening risks for pedestrians and cyclists.
Pedestrian routes near schools and health centres were especially dangerous. Poor maintenance and the absence of clear markings created daily discomfort and danger, particularly for vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
To address this, ACRoS partnered with the Dandora Transformation League, a local group known for revitalising public spaces in Dandora, to implement a week-long series of community-led infrastructure improvements directly aligned with this year’s theme to #MakeWalkingSafe. The intervention built on a successful partnership from 2018 that birthed the Model Street project. This time, the team targeted roads near 12 schools, using tactical urbanism, which involved repainting and restoring zebra crossings, installing speed bumps, and applying low-cost safety upgrades to calm traffic speed and enhance and improve pedestrian visibility and safety in high-risk road segments near critical community points.
ACRoS provided technical guidance grounded in the Safe System Approach and experience from other city programs, but the speed and scale of the intervention were only possible because of the hyperlocal knowledge and longstanding community relationships of the Dandora Transformation League. One key lesson from this experience is that change can be realised faster when local leaders are empowered, communities are engaged, and the interventions are rooted in everyday realities.
“Here, we walk to school, the markets, and health centres to seek basic services. We walk to work. We walk everywhere. But our roads are built as if we don’t exist. When your city is not built for walking or cycling, every small action counts,” one of the residents recounted.
Elsewhere, in Nairobi’s city centre, our team visited Muthurwa Primary School to deliver The ABC of Road Safety, a learning and activity booklet developed by UN-Habitat and supported by the United Nations Road Safety Fund. Over 100 pupils took part in a lively and engaging book reading session focused on pedestrian safety and road signs.
The pupils learned, but they also spoke up. They raised real concerns about the high vehicle speeds on nearby Landhies Road that passes just outside the school, where the daily walk to school often feels like crossing a racetrack. Dr. Anne Kamau of the University of Nairobi, who was present during the visit, also flagged serious air and noise pollution levels and the rampant encroachment and obstruction of sidewalks. The initial feedback from the pupils and teachers reminded us that road safety cannot stop at education. Education and awareness campaigns implemented as standalone interventions are ineffective on their own and must be accompanied and complemented by safe infrastructure, safe speeds and effective enforcement.
Pupils from Muthurwa Primary School holding the ABC of Road Safety activity booklet. Photo credit: Simon Onyango
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Meanwhile, in Mombasa, Jaffrey Academy hosted a full day of creative advocacy and became a living classroom for road safety awareness. From singing road safety songs to completing the ABC of Road Safety activity booklet and walking alongside “traffic zebras,” the pupils became active participants in road safety advocacy, reinforcing the message that children aren’t just passive users of roads. They’re key stakeholders.
Pupils from Jaffrey Academy, Mombasa, pose with copies of the ABC of Road Safety activity booklet. Photo credit: This is a placeholder photo. Please use a different photo that does not expose the faces of the kids. Please resize so it looks better, or choose another option.
Beyond this year’s UN Global Road Safety Week, ACRoS – with support from the United Nations Road Safety Fund – will continue to collaborate with local actors and city authorities to formalise and scale the interventions that worked and ensure that emerging lessons are understood and shared to help guide other urban road safety efforts, especially where they are needed most.