Making Cities Safer for Children: Addressing unintentional injuries

Every year, almost a million children and adolescents globally are killed by unintentional injuries – and urban children in informal settlements and slums are at especially high risk. In this brief, we explore the extent of the problem for poor urban children and why the scarcity of reliable data means that the incidence of injury is under recognised. We discuss the types and patterns of injury and the hazards and risk factors for girls and boys of different ages in different settings. We consider implications for action, including the need for greater awareness that most injuries are preventable, and why effective responses must be locally relevant, using local situation analyses and risk assessments involving local residents. Finally, we explore the valuable role of child-focused NGOs in raising awareness of the issue at all levels and encouraging processes to address it.