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Global Newsletter April 2018 |
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Dear Friends and Supporters, This month marks an important milestone for the international road safety community: on 12 April, the United Nations launched the new UN Road Safety Trust Fund at UN headquarters in New York City. The Fund will mobilize critical resources to finance interventions working to achieve global road safety targets. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe estimates that every $1,500 contributed to the Road Safety Trust Fund could save one life; prevent ten serious injuries; and leverage $51,000 in road safety investment. Our Safety Delivered program, supported by The UPS Foundation, has been busy across our implementation countries. In Cambodia, over 1,000 helmets were donated to a province that accounts for 5% of nationwide road crash casualties; and road safety ambassadors took to major roads in Phnom Penh to spread awareness about distracted driving to 1,000 people ahead of the Khmer New Year holiday, a time when road crashes typically spike. In Vietnam, Safety Delivered staged a ‘Safe Style Fashion Show’ for university students and local youth. The fashion show challenged students to design outfits that depict common traffic rules and road safety practices for motorcyclists. Even the runway itself was designed as a road! Whether through in-country programming, new partnerships, or advocacy on the international stage, we are always working towards global road safety targets as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information on our activities, achievements, and related road safety news, please read on. Kind regards, Mirjam Sidik
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Global |
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Vietnam |
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Cambodia |
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Thailand |
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Employment Opportunities
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Global |
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Photo of the month- UPS recognized by head of Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee, presented Daryl Tay, Managing Director of UPS Vietnam, with a certificate of recognition to show his gratitude to The UPS Foundation and UPS Vietnam for their commitment to increasing helmet-wearing rates in Vietnam. UPS employees have contributed nearly 900 volunteer hours in support of road safety programs since 2011. Thanks to their sponsorship of helmet donations and public awareness campaigns, Ho Chi Minh City achieved one of the highest helmet-wearing rates in the country in 2017. The certificate was presented during a road safety fashion show organized by our Safety Delivered program for university students in Ho Chi Minh City. Read here for more. |
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UN launches trust fund to improve road safety worldwide
On 12 April, 2018, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed launched the new UN Road Safety Trust Fund at headquarters in New York City, U.S. The Fund will mobilize critical resources to finance road safety interventions by opening up new government and municipal funding and re-focusing national road safety budgets towards proven ‘Safe System’ interventions. To kickstart the new fund, the FIA Foundation has pledged a donation of USD$10 million. AIP Foundation President Greig Craft was also present at the launch ceremony. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe estimates that every $1,500 contributed to the Road Safety Trust Fund could save one life; prevent ten serious injuries; and leverage $51,000 in road safety investment. Read more about this important milestone for the road safety NGO community here. |
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President presents on accomplishments at UN Headquarters
AIP Foundation President Greig Craft attended the UN Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) meeting in New York City. Attendees discussed implementation of the recently adopted UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/72/271; voluntary global performance targets for road safety; the next high-level meeting on improving global road safety; current and future activities of UNRSC project groups; and partner activities. The launch of the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund earlier in the week was also discussed; the new fund was created to encourage and support road safety action across the globe. At the meeting, Craft presented AIP Foundation's recent successes and accomplishments as part of the main agenda, and also discussed cost savings from the tenth anniversary of Vietnam's national helmet law in a project group discussion. |
Vietnam |
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GM Vietnam and AIP Foundation launch
Protect Your Precious campaign
General Motors Vietnam (GM Vietnam) and AIP Foundation kicked off the Protect Your Precious campaign in collaboration with Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to promote the use of child safety seats and the importance of children wearing seat belts. Attendees at the kick-off event at Dich Vong A Primary School in Hanoi included U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Vietnam Caryn McClelland; GM Southeast Asia President Ian Nicholls; AIP Foundation President Greig Craft; representatives from NTSC, MOET, Hanoi Department of Education and Training, and Hanoi Traffic Safety Committee; Chevrolet Vietnam dealers and employees; and nearly 500 car-owning parents and primary school students. At the kick-off event, parents and their children actively participated in road safety games for kids and a knowledge-sharing workshop hosted by NTSC experts. In addition, a viral video and a campaign song named “The Precious”, composed by musician Doan Nhuoc Quy helped actively spread the message, reminding parents to take good care and ensure the safety of their children - our most precious. The theme of the Protect Your Precious campaign is “Back seat. Buckled up.” The campaign is aimed at preventing unnecessary deaths and injuries among children by raising public awareness of the significance of child safety seats and seat belts as well as emphasizing parents’ responsibility for keeping their children safe when traveling in vehicles. View more photos from the kick-off event here. |
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UPS joins judging panel for road safety fashion show competition
UPS volunteers in Ho Chi Minh City played a key role at our ‘Safe Style Fashion Show,’ sitting on the judges panel and supporting the event by encouraging students to like and share our Safety Delivered Facebook page. By challenging the university students and road safety ambassadors to design outfits that highlight common traffic rules and safe driving practices for motorcyclists, the fashion show became an opportunity for road safety ambassadors to creatively educate their peers about road safety. Ms. Nguyen Pham Tran Chau, Marketing Supervisor at UPS Vietnam, participated in the panel to judge the fashion show competition. After the event, she expressed her enthusiasm for the fashion show’s creativity in addressing road safety issues, saying, “I am very happy to be joining this event as a judge. The students and road safety ambassadors exceeded all expectations in the quality of their designs and performance of their outfits as well as in the power of their road safety messaging for their peers.” The fashion show gathered nearly 3,000 participants including Safety Delivered road safety ambassadors, young students from six target program universities in Ho Chi Minh City; UPS volunteers; representatives from the HCMC Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Education and Training, as well as National Traffic Safety Committee; and a professional stylist, Hensi Le. The event was live streamed on our campaign Facebook page, receiving over 48,100 views in the first two weeks after the event. In addition to the fashion show, the audience also enjoyed performances by well-known Vietnamese singers and dancers and participated in interactive road safety activities. One of our distracted driving public service announcement videos, which included the slogan "Leave your phone alone, or you could be next!" was also shown at the event to raise awareness of the consequences of mobile phone use while driving. Participants were encouraged to like and share the video posted on our campaign Facebook page; within the first two weeks, over 65,100 youth between the ages of 19 and 25 viewed the video. The UPS Foundation-sponsored Safety Delivered program has created a model program for peer-to-peer education through its innovative approach to spreading awareness of road safety among youth in Vietnam. Initiatives such as the ‘Safe Style Fashion Show’ come at a critical time for these university students. Of the 927 male and female students surveyed from seven universities in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, 82% travel to and from school on a motorcycle. However, many of these novice drivers lack the necessary understanding of traffic laws and the consequences of unsafe behaviors such as calling, text messaging, and using the Internet while driving. This inexperience translates to dangerous situations on the roads, with motorcycle crashes accounting for 68% of all road crashes in Vietnam. Read the full press release here. View more photos from the fashion show here. |
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2,338 helmets donated to school where only 5% of students wear helmets
As part of our Safety Delivered program, 2,338 quality helmets were donated to students at Le Van Tam Primary School in Hanoi, where less than 5% of students were recorded wearing helmets during a pre-implementation survey. The primary school is located in the heart of the city center, which is notorious for its chaotic traffic flow. A teacher training workshop will be held for the school to equip teachers to better be able to educate students on road safety concepts and proper helmet use. View more photos from the helmet ceremony here. |
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CEO speaks with media on road safety challenges and opportunities within Vietnam
CEO Mirjam Sidik discussed challenges and opportunities with road safety in Vietnam as part of a panel discussion and press conference attended by 25 members of the media. Sidik joined representatives from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety science company, and the College of Transportation Ho Chi Minh City for the panel. The press conference was organized by UL to announce the unveiling of an update to its annual UL Safety Index. Among the new aspects of the latest UL Safety Index is the incorporation of additional data sets, including road safety. While Vietnam has risen in the global rankings for certain safety criteria, the index found that transport safety within the country requires improvement. Suggestions discussed by the panelists included behavior change education, especially for youth; road infrastructure improvements; and further development and enforcement of road safety codes and laws. View more photos from the press conference here. |
Cambodia |
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Over 1,000 helmets donated to province that accounts for 5% of nationwide road crash casualties
Over 1,000 quality helmets were donated to students and teachers from Batheay Primary School and High School as part of our Safety Delivered program supported by The UPS Foundation. Located on National Road 6A in Kampong Cham Province, the Batheay school district has recorded a high number of road crashes. In 2017, three people from the Batheay Primary School were injured in crashes, and between 2012 and 2017, five people died and 15 were seriously injured, including an ex-school director. In 2016, road crash casualties in Kampong Cham Province accounted for 5% of the nationwide total, with 86 people killed in the province. During the week leading up to the helmet handover ceremonies, a road safety teacher training was conducted by AIP Foundation staff. A total of 68 teachers from both the high school and primary school attended the education session, which empowered them with the tools and training to pass on road safety knowledge to their students. “This training is quite new for me and highly crucial towards being aware in order to avoid a road crash. I will distribute this information to my students, colleagues, and people in the community so they can better protect themselves from a road crash,” said Ms. Siv Chanthrea, School Principal of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen Batheay. View more photos from the helmet handover ceremony and trainings here. |
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930 students and teachers receive helmets donated through road safety program
At Wat Toul Tompong Primary School in Phnom Penh, 870 students and 60 teachers received helmets donated by our Safety Delivered program. Road safety is a major concern for the school, which is located on the corner of two busy roads. Baseline studies revealed that only 10% of students observed wear a helmet on their way to school. At the handover ceremony, Ms. Meas Rada, Vice-Chief of Commune of Toul Tompong 1, spoke on behalf of the local community and thanked those in attendance for their participation and commitment towards keeping students safe on their daily commute. As part of Safety Delivered, teachers from the school recently took part in a training workshop conducted by AIP Foundation staff. The workshop focused on expanding teacher knowledge of general road safety issues, the correct way to wear a helmet and why, and ways of educating students on how to be safe road travelers. Training the teachers on how to deliver newly-acquired road safety knowledge to students is a vital component of the program. Safety Delivered, supported by The UPS Foundation, works with young, inexperienced motorcycle drivers to improve their distracted driving behaviors while also working to increase child helmet use. View more photos from the helmet ceremony here. |
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30 youth ambassadors develop their skills through awareness-raising workshop
Thirty student road safety ambassadors, representing four partner universities in Phnom Penh, seized the opportunity to develop effective communication, digital, and social media skills as part of an awareness-raising and training workshop organized by our Young Ambassadors for Road Safety (YARS) program. Subject experts moderated the workshop and and encouraged the YARS students to discuss and share ideas on how to reduce mobile phone use while driving. The distracted driving awareness concepts drafted by the students will be synthesized into a joint statement and presented to the Cambodian Government, the public, civil society organizations, and the private sector in May. View more photos here. |
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Youth ambassadors deliver distracted driving messaging to 1,000 people before Khmer New Year celebrations
University students from our Safety Delivered program's youth ambassador network took to major arterial roads in Phnom Penh in order to spread awareness about distracted driving ahead of the Khmer New Year holiday. H.E. Min Meanvy, General Secretariat of the National Road Safety Committee, also participated in the initiative to show her support. Statistics indicate that in Cambodia, a high number of road crashes occur around major holidays as many citizens travel across provinces to enjoy time with family and friends at home. During the three days of the campaign, approximately 1,000 road users were educated on the dangerous consequences of mobile phone use while driving, speeding, drunk driving, and not using a helmet. The road safety ambassadors volunteered their time and enthusiasm to ensure these road safety messages were delivered to road users. View more photos from the campaign here. |
Thailand |
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AIP Foundation joins roundtable to advise on road safety journalism fellowship
Thailand Country Manager Oratai Junsuwanaruk and Legal Development Program (LDP) member Pisith Wongthiathana recently attended the "Editors' Roundtable on Why Road Safety Matters" to provide recommendations for the upcoming launch of the Road Safety Journalism Fellowship 2018 program and a joint workshop with LDP in late April. Other participants at the event, which was hosted by Internews and World Health Organization (WHO), included representatives from JS100 Radio, the Road Safety Policy Foundation, Save the Children, and Voice TV. The Road Safety Journalism Fellowship 2018 is a collaboration between Internews and the WHO. The Legal Development Program is a collaboration between AIP Foundation Thailand and the WHO. Both programs aim to reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities through legislative improvement and are supported by the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS). |
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Thailand staff attend national safety event
AIP Foundation Thailand was one of more than 20 exhibitors at the Annual Disaster Prevention and Mitigation event in Songkhla Province, an event to promote network building, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among organizations. The event, hosted by Songkhla Governor Dondej Pattanarat and the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Regional Center 12 (DPMRC 12), had over 500 representatives from more than 60 organizations including state agencies, police, army, local administration organizations, businesses, charitable organizations and others from five southern provinces, including Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. View more photos from the event here. |
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Core Group Bus team holds first meeting to discuss school bus system improvements
The Core Group Bus team held its first meeting at the Road Safety Policy Foundation, where group participants, including four Legal Development Program (LDP) members, shared ideas and discussed plans to improve school bus safety through legislative solutions. According to data gathered by the Road Safety Policy Foundation, in 2017 there were 30 school bus-related crashes. Seven children died and 363 were injured; of these, 22 suffered serious injuries. The majority of these crashes were caused by overloaded buses, lack of school bus aides, substandard after-market vehicle modifications, or poorly maintained vehicles. The meeting represented the group's first step towards tackling the unsafe school transport service, a persistent problem in Thailand due to inadequate safety standards and lack of government oversight. Members of the group include representatives from the LDP, the Road Safety Policy Foundation, the Foundation for Consumers, Thailand Development Research Institute, the National Metal and Materials Technology Center, and AIP Foundation. |
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Street Wise sets up road safety checkpoint for Songkran festival
Street Wise and Songkhla Province worked together to launch a road checkpoint in preparation for the upcoming Songkran festival period, which tends to see a dangerous spike in road traffic injuries and fatalities each year. At the launch, students and teachers from participating schools wore traditional Thai outfits and distributed Street Wise hand fans and refreshing towels to drivers and passengers. The checkpoint, which was located across from the Singhanakhon Town Municipality Office, helped direct traffic, provide medical and emergency care, and assist in spotting and arresting people who violate the law by drunk driving, speeding, running red lights, not wearing helmets or seatbelts, causing a disturbance, and other unsafe road behaviors. The checkpoint was be active during the seven days of Songkran, from 11 to 18 April. Sakra Kapinkan, Deputy Governor of Songkhla, presided over the event. Sixty participants attended, including students from program schools and representatives from AIP Foundation, Chevron (Thailand) Limited, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Songkhla Civil Defence Volunteers, the Singhanakhon Provincial Police Station, Songkhla Volunteer Defense Corps, and the Songkhla Provincial Public Health Office. To view more photos from the event, please click here. |
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Helmets for Kids video showcases impressive achievements
Since November 2017, AIP Foundation and Grab Thailand have joined forces to deliver road safety education to over 800 students, parents, and teachers at Wat Chong Nonsi School in Bangkok as part of our Helmets for Kids program. As the program comes to a close, we have a special video to showcase our activities and achievements over the past five months. The program has had some notable outcomes, including an increase from 2% to 51% in child helmet use rates- seven times higher than the national average in Thailand. Helmets for Kids aims to increase helmet use among children, teachers, and parents in order to better protect them from head injury and raise public awareness of the importance of child quality helmet use. View the showcase video in Thai with English subtitles here. |
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