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Global Newsletter March 2018
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
This month, we celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with a variety of activities. In Cambodia, we observed the day with a road safety forum for 40 mothers as part of our
Helmets for Families program. Our Thailand Chairperson represented AIP Foundation on a panel at the Women in Leadership Summit held on International Women's Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
We also marked a number of exciting achievements in Vietnam this month, including being awarded a grant through the prestigious Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge for a new speed reduction program in Pleiku City. In addition, the local government in Ho Chi Minh City issued its new pedestrian safety plan, which includes key safe school zone priorities advocated for by our
Walk This Way program.
Whether through our participation at international conferences or through the implementation of new road safety programs, we are proud to be drawing global attention to the innovative and sustainable interventions that exist for addressing road crash injuries and deaths.
For more information on our programming and related road safety news, please read on.
Kind regards,
Mirjam Sidik
CEO, AIP Foundation
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Photo of the month- Thailand Chairperson presents at Women in Leadership Summit
08 March, 2018- Dhaka, Bangladesh
Our Thailand Chairperson Ratana H. Winther joined fellow change makers at the Women in Leadership Summit held on International Women's Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Winther participated in a panel on redefining women's roles.
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AIP Foundation awarded prestigious grant for new speed reduction program in Vietnam
30 March, 2018 -Basel, Switzerland
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A school child in Vietnam that must contend with vehicles traveling at high speeds on her walk to school.
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The prestigious Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge has awarded AIP Foundation with a grant to implement
Slow Zones, Safe Zones, our new two-year, city-wide road safety program focused on reducing speed in school zones in Pleiku City, Vietnam. The overall purpose of the program is to reduce road crash injuries and fatalities in school zones in Pleiku City by improving the road safety environment and culture for students commuting to and from school. This is done through a comprehensive set of interventions to limit speed in school zones. Pleiku City is a mid-sized city located along a major regional economic corridor in Gia Lai province, Vietnam. In Gia Lai province, 51% of primary school students are members of ethnic minority groups. We are implementing the program with support from the Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and KOVA.
The program will improve school zone safety in the city by installing road modifications and conducting a public awareness campaign; developing and piloting a nationally-applicable road safety e-curriculum; and supporting the provincial government to develop a provincial law to enforce reduced speed in school zones in Gia Lai province. Innovative elements include the use of the iRAP Star Ratings for Schools App to assess road safety environments, high-end road marking paint, a tailored e-curriculum, and monitoring & evaluation methods developed in collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
Road injuries account for the second highest number of deaths in Vietnam for children aged 5-14, who are particularly at risk on their commutes to school. There are many contributing factors to Vietnam's road safety crisis, but one stands out: 25% of road crashes are caused by speeding. In Vietnam, 64% of drivers surveyed felt it was understandable to drive at speeds above the legal limit.
The Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge is designed to address locally relevant road safety problems that affect children in small- and mid-sized cities in six priority countries through implementation of practical, innovative, and evidence-based interventions. It is funded by the Fondation Botnar, a Swiss charitable foundation founded in 2003, and managed by the Global Road Safety Partnership.
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GlobalGiving - Little by Little Campaign
09-13 April, 2018
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Donate to AIP Foundation through the Little by Little Matching Campaign.
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It's the little things that make a difference when it comes to road safety - from putting on your helmet properly, to buckling your seatbelt in the car. Get ready to celebrate the power of little steps and big results by donating to AIP Foundation for the Little by Little Matching Campaign from April 9 - 13th! During this week, GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50% with $50,000 in matching funds. There will be an additional 100% match on recurring donations and $3,000 in bonus prizes!
You can find our project on GlobalGiving here.
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President shares road safety insights at conference in Nepal
21-22 January, 2018- Kathmandu, Nepal
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AIP Foundation President Greig Craft demonstrates components of a quality helmet during his presentation at the national road safety conference in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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AIP Foundation President Greig Craft joined fellow road safety advocates for the National Conference on Road Safety organized by the Nepal Engineers' Association in Kathmandu, Nepal. The main goal of the conference was to help participating organizations develop a deeper understanding of road safety issues and a consensus on the future course of action. Attendees included engineers, planners, and decision makers from different government institutions; representatives from bilateral and multilateral donor organizations; traffic authorities; universities and academia; policy makers and local community leaders; NGOs; and civil societies, among others.
At the conference, Craft also met with the Board of Directors for the Nepal Automobile Association to discuss potential road safety initiatives and the upcoming FIA Region II Annual Meeting to be held in Kathmandu in September 2018.
View more photos from both events here.
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President speaks at United Nations conference, discusses success of Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative
20-21 March, 2018- Bangkok, Thailand
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AIP Foundation President Greig Craft joins road safety experts for the UNITAR conference.
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Greig Craft, President of AIP Foundation, discussed our Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative (GHVI) at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research's workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference gathered industry experts and focused on the theme of improving road safety for sustainable cities.
At the round table, Craft presented on our work in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia to support the establishment of Country-Level Helmet Vaccine Initiatives that involve government, corporate, and research partners. The presentation also discussed successes and challenges faced in Vietnam, as well as next steps to continue efforts to put a helmet on every head in the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).
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New pedestrian safety plan in Ho Chi Minh City incorporates key safe school zone priorities
08 March, 2018- Ho Chi Minh City
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Two students cross a busy road on their way to school in Ho Chi Minh City.
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The People's Committee of District 6 issued its new pedestrian safety plan for 2017-2020, which includes key safe school zone priorities advocated for by AIP Foundation's
Walk This Way program. The pedestrian safety plan will target primary and secondary schools located along the planned Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor and feeder roads.
The plan aims to achieve the following objectives in District 6 of Ho Chi Minh City: 100% of the roads that surround schools will be equipped with zebra crossings and sidewalks; 100% of roads that surround schools will not have potholes; 100% of pavements that surround schools will be tiled; and 100% of areas in front of school gates will be equipped with no stopping or parking signs, speed reduction signs, and child warning signs.
The Ho Chi Minh City government’s commitment to safe school zones in District 6 is a success, but more remains to be done to ensure road modifications at all schools along the BRT corridor. In May, we will be participating in a workshop with the World Bank, International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), and World Resources Institute to coordinate plans for advocating the Ho Chi Minh City government to implement road modifications at the rest of the affected schools in Districts 1 and 5.
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Related news: The Helmet Law: Ten Years On
02 March, 2018
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In December 2007, the helmet law came into effect. A decade later, and there’s still headroom to grow.
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Source:
Word Hanoi, 02 March, 2018
Traffic was at a standstill. Pedestrian spectators pointed their phones at a grisly scene; a motorcycle had t-boned a car. A spider web of glass across the car’s windshield revealed the point of impact. Based on the severe damage to the car and mangled frame of the motorcycle, there should have been blood, but there wasn’t. A motorcycle helmet perched on the hood of the car may have explained why.
According to a bulletin published in 2009 by the World Health Organization, wearing a helmet in Vietnam reduces the risk of death by 42%. Since Vietnam introduced the helmet law 10 years ago, AIP Foundation has estimated more than 15,000 fatalities and 500,000 injuries have been prevented, and those figures continue to grow. The road to preventing fatalities and injuries has been long and riddled with obstacles, but with the support of organizations like AIP Foundation and the Center for Global Development, individuals, government agencies — and even unsuspecting partners — 100% use of helmets is on the horizon.
Read the full article from
Word Hanoi here.
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International Women’s Day observed with road safety forum
01 March, 2018 – Kampong Cham
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In commemoration of International Women’s Day, 40 mothers participated in a helmet use forum at Veal Vong Primary School in Cambodia.
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In support of International Women’s Day, we organized a helmet use forum for 40 mothers at Veal Vong Primary School in Cambodia. The forum is a vital part of the
Helmets for Families program, which is sponsored by Manulife Cambodia Plc. The mothers received information on the impact of road crashes on society and their families, the relationship between injury prevention and helmet use, and their role in encouraging helmet use among their families. Additionally, the mothers learned about the revised road traffic law in Cambodia, which now mandates that motorcycle passengers, including children over three years, wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle.
In addition to providing road safety education, our
Helmets for Families program donated 1,048 helmets to teachers, students, and parents of Veal Vong Primary School in November 2017. We are collaborating with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, General Commiserate of National Police, and National Road Safety Committee to implement other activities at Veal Vong Primary School over the coming year.
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Related news: Garment workers travel to factories standing in the back of flatbed trucks that often crash
23 March, 2018
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Factory workers must contend with dangerous transportation options to commute to work.
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Source:
Khmer Times, 23 March, 2018
Every morning, Sao Ny steps onto the flatbed truck that will carry her to work and has a terrifying flashback – a large tarp flies through the air and strikes the windshield of the truck, causing its driver to careen off the road and crash.
Ms Ny, sitting outside her garment factory on lunch break, remembers the crash from three years ago clearly. She was standing in the flatbed truck as it carried her to her factory in Kandal province from her home in Kampong Speu province.
As the driver went along National Road 4, a truck ahead of them had a tarp blown off of it, striking her truck driver’s windshield and leading to a crash in which the truck overturned, flinging workers out of the flatbed.
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The majority of the country’s 700,000 garment workers get to work every day in the back of flatbed trucks, which are often overloaded with up to 50 or 70 labourers being transported more like cattle than people.
According to the Labour Ministry, 68 workers were killed in crashes last year and 683 were seriously injured, with another 4,102 slightly injured. In 2016, 118 workers died and 1,293 suffered serious injuries.
Read the full article from the
Khmer Times here.
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Thai government makes progress towards commitments for UN Decade of Action
19 February, 2018- Bangkok
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The Yan Nawa District’s Road Safety Operation Center Committee holds their first meeting in 2018.
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The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) recently selected Yan Nawa District, Bangkok, as a pilot area for the province's first Road Safety Operation Center, taking another step towards meeting their commitments to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. Setting up a Road Safety Operation Center in every district in Thailand was one of the Thai government's initiatives established at the start of the Decade of Action in 2011. The BMA chose Yan Nawa District based on our successful implementation of the
Helmets for Kids program, a signature program that we have been implementing in Thailand since 2006.
Thailand Country Manager of AIP Foundation Oratai Junsuwanaruk attended the first meeting of the Yan Nawa District’s Road Safety Operation Center Committee. At the meeting, in addition to discussing ways to reduce road crashes in the district, Junsuwanaruk gave a short presentation on our
Helmet for Kids program.
Helmets for Kids aims to increase helmet use among children, teachers and parents to better protect them from head injury and raise public awareness of the importance of child quality helmet use.
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AIP Foundation collaborates with Internews to improve road safety legislation and enforcement in Thailand
13 March, 2018- Bangkok
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Thailand Country Manager Oratai Junsuwanaruk meets with representatives from Internews.
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Thailand Country Manager Oratai Junsuwanaruk met with representatives from Internews to discuss ways that our
Legal Development Program can collaborate with the international nonprofit to advocate for better road safety laws and enforcement in Thailand. The meeting focused on the 2018 Road Safety Journalism Fellowship in Thailand, a collaboration between Internews and the World Health Organization, and supported by the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS). The Fellowship aims to strengthen the capacity of journalists to produce comprehensive news and to translate statistics on road injuries and deaths into human and public interest stories.
AIP Foundation's
Legal Development Program is also a collaboration with the WHO and supported by BIGRS. The
LDP aims to build the capacities of legal, civil society, and media professionals to strengthen road safety legislation and enforcement. We coordinate
LDP activities in Thailand.
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Street Wise gears up for Phase III launch
09 March, 2018- Songkhla Province
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Mr. Suchart Wuttimarnop (left), director of Ban Yang Ngam Municipal 1 School and Mrs. Naitawan Thawonthamrat, from AIP Foundation, meet as part of planning for the launch of Phase III of
Street Wise.
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Gearing up for the launch of
Street Wise Phase III, AIP Foundation staff visited the participating primary schools to discuss the program's plans and activities. The team also met with district officers and the director of Ban Yang Ngam Municipal 1 School, the latest addition to the program.
Phase III of the
Street Wise program will be implemented at 11 schools, aiming to improve the road safety knowledge and skills of students, parents, teachers, and community members in Songkhla province. The program is supported by Chevron (Thailand) Limited.
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Legal Development Program holds first strategic meeting of the year
21 March, 2018- Bangkok
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Thailand Country Manager Oratai Junsuwanaruk speaks at the
LDP strategic meeting on 21 March in Bangkok.
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The
Legal Development Program (LDP) held the first strategic meeting of 2018 on 21 March at the I Residence Hotel in Bangkok. At the meeting,
LDP members and stakeholders discussed the latest information on road safety strategies, policy and implementation gaps, and opportunities for improvement. Participants also prepared a work plan to align with the national government's long-term goals.
Guest speakers included World Health Organization Technical Officer Dr. Liviu Vedrasco, Dr. Thanapong Jinawong, chief of the Road Safety Policy Foundation, and Dr. Phathai Singkham, a representative of the Bureau of Non-Communicable Diseases at the Department of Disease Control.
View more photos from the meeting here.
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Photo contest and exhibition give students a voice in their own pedestrian safety education
22 March, 2018- Nanba County
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Students practice road safety concepts as part of the first photovoice workshop.
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On 22 March, 24 students from Shengdeng Middle School and Kunchi Middle School in Nanba County, China attended a training session on pedestrian safety, photography, and presentation skills, as part of the first phase of the PHOTOVOICE project. Sponsored by Chevron and implemented by our
Walk Wise program, PHOTOVOICE utilizes photos and reflections from students as a way to educate them on pedestrian safety and advocate for better walking environments.
This is the first of six workshops that will be carried out as part of the photojournalism project. Following the training, students will be tasked to capture images of the walking environment around their schools and communities. Later on, they will discuss their observations in breakout sessions with their peers and teachers.
The project will culminate with a photography exhibition where student representatives from each school will present photos and ideas for solutions to the whole Nanba Community. At the exhibition, the best photo will be selected by the panel and the winning student will receive a prize.
View more photos from the training here.
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Walk Wise convenes community stakeholders for new school zone modification plan
26 March, 2018- Nanba County
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A participant in the stakeholder workshop presents plans for school zone environmental modifications.
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Walk Wise, our pedestrian safety program sponsored by Chevron, convened community stakeholders to develop an implementation plan for environmental modifications at our program schools in Nanba County, China. The workshop drew upon the expertise of stakeholders for the project planning process, including an analysis of the current road safety situation in the project school zones, a profile of road users in Nanba County, etc. We contributed our guidelines and recommendations for environmental modifications in school zones.
Workshop participants included the vice principal and the safety director for each project school, two representatives from the Nanba township government, two local police officers, and two representatives from Xuanhan Natural Gas Office. In addition, two representatives from the Kaizhou District Tongchuang Social Service Center, another organization implementing road safety education initiatives in the region, also joined to offer their insights. In total, 16 local stakeholders, three AIP Foundation China staff, and a consultant took part in the workshop.
View more photos from the stakeholder workshop here.
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