Dear friends and supporters, This month we increased our efforts to build capacity among journalists and policy-makers in Vietnam. With support from the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), we organized training courses for journalists and policy-makers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to equip them with the skills necessary to spread awareness of the issues of road safety and child helmet use in Vietnam. The effects of these workshops are already being seen as local authorities organize helmet and road safety trainings of their own at the provincial level. At the end of October, the UN Secretary General highlighted the work of the Cambodia Helmet Vaccine Initiative in his report Improving global road safety for its efforts to endorse the joint statement "Motorcycle passengers, including children, must wear helmets." The statement, which was signed by over 100 stakeholders and submitted to the Minister of Transport in January 2013, appealed to the Government of Cambodia to approve the draft passenger helmet law, the national road safety policy and 10-year action plan, and the three-year helmet action plan. The report was released in anticipation of the UN General Assembly session this fall and the UN Road Safety Collaboration's bi-annual meeting which I will be attending in Abu Dhabi this week. Read on to find out more. Kind regards, Mirjam Sidik
1. Global
2. Vietnam
3. Cambodia
4. Thailand
6. Uganda
News Update: Africa's Trauma Epidemic Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's smallest number of motorized vehicles but the highest rate of road traffic fatalities, with Nigeria and South Africa leading the pack. The World Bank predicts that in the next two years, road accidents could be the biggest killer of African children between 5 and 15. By 2030, according to the Global Burden of Disease study, road accidents will be the fifth leading cause of death in the developing world, ahead of malaria, tuberculosis and H.I.V.
News Update: Now, Students Campaign for Road Safety. A group of college students in Kerala, India have partnered with the Motor Vehicles Department for a one-year campaign to raise awareness about road safety among young motorists throughout city. The campaign will involve about 150 students from a city college in Kochi marching to different colleges all over Kerala and taking classes on the importance of following road safety rules.
AIP Foundation Cambodia Country Director attends 8th World Alliance for Risk Factor Surveillance (WARFS) Global Conference in Beijing
From October 29th to November 1st, AIP Foundation Cambodia Country Director Pagna Kim attended the biennial 8th World Alliance for Risk Factor Surveillance (WARFS) Global Conference in Beijing. The conference was jointly organized by the IUHPE, the Chinese CDC and Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and brought together more than 300 local and international delegates from governments, international organizations, the scientific community, NGOs, and advocacy groups. During the third day of conference, Mr. Kim presented the helmet observation methodology developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and AIP Foundation that has been used to evaluate the success of the Helmets for Kids school-based initiative in Cambodia. The methodology has been implemented in Cambodia with technical assistance from the CDC since 2011 and is being expanded to Helmets for Kids project schools in Vietnam and Thailand this year. Read the abstract here.
CLEAR and AIP Foundation donate helmets to students, mothers, and teachers in Hai Duong Province
On October 1st, 2013, CLEAR and AIP Foundation held a helmet handover ceremony for the pilot project Helmets for Heads in Tu Ky district of Hai Duong province. On this day, 1,065 helmets were donated to 505 elementary students, 505 mothers, and 55 teachers from Ky Son and Tai Son primary schools. Prior to the helmet handover, a training on basic road traffic laws and helmet use was organized for parents and teachers at the school on September 28th. The helmet handover ceremony included performances by students, parents, and teachers as well as helmet training games, and remarks by the Department of Education and Training. The Helmets for Heads project is the result of a partnership that began in 2012 between CLEAR and the Road Safety Fund as part of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. View the photos here and read the press release here. Theatergoers learn about pedestrian safety at CJ Group/MegaStar Cinemas nationwide
"Let's Walk Safely," a pedestrian safety TV commercial created by the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation and CreaTV will air in CJ Group owned MegaStar Cinemas across Vietnam this October, November, and March. The commercial will provide movie-goers with valuable pedestrian safety information that has the potential to save thousands of lives across the nation. The TV commercial was created as a pro-bono project by CreaTV to support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety as part of AIP Foundation's child pedestrian safety campaign. This multifaceted program combines education, research, and enforcement with environmental improvements to areas where children walk with the goal of promoting safe habits among child pedestrians. The brief but moving commercial targets young audiences with striking animation and encourages them to stop, look both ways, think, listen, and cross carefully. CJ Group and MegaStar have generously agreed to air the commercial in ten of their theaters more than 9,000 times in five provinces throughout Vietnam. Watch the commercial here, check out photos here, and read the press release here. Johnson & Johnson holds Helmets for Kids top-off ceremonies in three provinces
At the beginning of the 2013-2014 academic year, Johnson & Johnson returned to Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Dong Nai provinces for helmet top-offs and extracurricular activities as part of the Helmets for Kids program. During these top-offs, Johnson & Johnson donated 3,848 helmets to all first graders and other students of target schools whose previously received helmets were damaged. Together, Johnson & Johnson and AIP Foundation have donated 21,476 helmets to 32 schools in two years of Helmets for Kids partnership. During the 2012-2013 school year, helmet use rates at these schools increased from 26 to 96 percent. A total of 35 crash cases were collected, and all of the students and one teacher that were involved in road traffic crashes were protected thanks to the helmets they received as a donation. Check out the photos. AIP Foundation organizes a road safety course for policy-makers in Ha Noi
From October 3rd-4th, 2013, the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation's Vietnam National Child Helmet Campaign "Children also need a helmet" organized a road safety training course for policy-makers at the Golden Lotus Hotel in Ha Noi. The aim of the course was to expand participants' knowledge of issues surrounding road safety and helmet use and generate concrete action plans to promote child helmet wearing. Trainings covered current helmet legislation and challenges to implementation, technical standards and requirements of helmets along with brain injury data, development of child helmet campaigns, and effective behavior change methodologies. The workshop was supported by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), with financial assistance from the Bloomberg Philanthropies. The two-day workshop resulted in the development of six provincial action plans that outlined a combined campaign with police enforcement and communications activities to promote child helmet wearing. The course materials are available online through the campaign's website. Follow-up will be conducted via an online forum hosted on the "Children also need a helmet" website. Read the press release here. "Helmets as companions for kids" contest in Danang
From October 5th-6th, the Danang Traffic Safety Committee and Da Nang Women's Union, in collaboration with AIP Foundation conducted two "Helmets as companions for kids" contests for families with children under the age of 16 in the Nhon Hoa and Hoa Phu wards of the Hoa Vang district of Danang . More than 220 families joined the two contests featuring road safety and helmet use knowledge tests for children. The board of organizers also handed out 140 quality helmets to children whose families could not afford to buy them. The "Helmets as companions for kids" contests are the result of one of two small grants given by AIP Foundation to local authorities in Danang in order to support their efforts to increase child helmet use. FedEx Express and Safe Kids Vietnam celebrate International Walk to School Day in Ho Chi Minh City
On October 9th, FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company and a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. marked International Walk to School Day by launching new Safe Kids Walk This Way (WTW) initiatives and revealing findings from the first-ever pedestrian safety study in Vietnam. Held in partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide, WTW is a road safety advocacy program that aims to educate children about safe walking behaviors and increase awareness about pedestrian welfare. This year's WTW Vietnam program will kick off with a photo contest for secondary students nationwide that will capture examples of safe and dangerous road user behaviors. The contest will run from November 2013 to April 2014, and will culminate with an exhibit in Hanoi featuring the winning photo entries in May 2014. A workshop series called the Walk with FedEx Tour will begin in November to bring pedestrian safety education and equipment to 13,000 students in primary schools throughout Ho Chi Minh City. Check out the photos here and read the press release here. Journalists come together to enhance coverage and increase awareness of road safety and child helmet use
From October 9th-11th, the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation's Vietnam National Child Helmet Campaign "Children also need a helmet", supported by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), organized a training workshop for journalists and reporters to increase their knowledge of the issues of road safety and child helmet use. The three-day workshop was held at the Silver Creek City Resort in Ho Chi Minh City. The workshop was developed by AIP Foundation to build capacity among members of the media by providing background on the global crisis of road injuries and fatalities, disseminating information about helmet regulations and the level of helmet use among adults and children in Vietnam, and sharing best practices for increasing awareness of road safety issues from journalists around the world. Activities were organized to enable journalists and reporters to maximize their publications' roles in road safety behavior change communications. Trainings covered the issues of child helmet use from many angles. Talks were given by parents of survivors of road crashes, a doctor specializing in traumatic brain injury, a police officer, a headmaster, a helmet manufacturer and the creator of the award-winning road safety documentary "In Retrospect". Writing workshops and communications strategy sessions were held, and participants were invited to join a forum hosted on the AIP Foundation's child helmet website where journalists can post and discuss articles covering road safety and helmet use. The workshop was funded by GRSP, with financial assistance from the Bloomberg Philanthropies. Read the press release here and check out the photos here. Child helmet training seminar for secondary and high school teachers in Dong Nai
On October 26th, the Dong Nai Department of Education and Training (DoET) organized a two-day training workshop for 262 teachers on road safety education that included a seminar on child helmet use. The workshop was organized as a result of the Dong Nai DoET's participation in AIP Foundation's policy-maker training course. The seminar included presentations on the level of child helmet use nationwide, challenges and barriers to helmet wearing, as well as proven solutions and measures to increase child helmet use. The teachers actively participated in discussions on effective educational and communication activities that schools and teachers can conduct in order to inspire behavior change among secondary and high school students and their parents. The model for improving student helmet wearing rates, the child helmet-related resources and suggested educational helmet use activities provided in this seminar were highly appreciated by the participants. Plans are underway for Dong Nai DoET to organize another training workshop on child helmet use for over 500 kindergarten and primary teachers. View photos here. "Children also need a helmet" parent information sessions held in three districts
On October 28th and 30th, the Hanoi Traffic Safety Committee, Department of Education and Training, and AIP Foundation held two district-level parent information sessions about child helmet use in Phu La and Thang Long primary schools. The kick-off session at Phu La primary school in the Ha Dong district of Hanoi had 5,000 parents in attendance. Parents received training on the importance of child helmet use, how to create good helmet use habits, proper helmet wearing, and how to keep helmets clean and in good quality. One more district-based information session will be held on November 4th in Hanoi and all the remaining primary schools in the five target districts will organize similar information sessions using the district-based model. The information sessions were organized as part of phase III of the "Children also need a helmet" public awareness campaign. There will be 20 parent information sessions in Da Nang and 35 in Ho Chi Minh City during the month of November.
New website harnesses Cambodia's digital generation to improve road safety, increase helmet use
The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, in partnership with the National Road Safety Committee and the General Commissariat of the National Police, launched the new Safe Roads website on September 20, 2013. The website expands on AIP Foundation Cambodia's successful community engagement through Facebook over the last year. Several initiatives, including a photography contest, an online petition, and a family-friendly app, have already garnered the page nearly 10,000 fans. To build on this online following, the new Safe Roads website will target Cambodian youth with information on the national road safety situation, up-to-date news plus weekly quizzes games, and prizes. Read the press release here and view the site here . Manulife (Cambodia) PLC donates 647 helmets to Wat Preah Put Primary School through Helmets for Families
On October 24th, the leading Canadian-based financial services company, Manulife PLC, in its second year of collaboration with the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, held a Helmets for Families helmet handover ceremony at Wat Preah Put primary school in Phnom Penh.On this day, 647 helmets were donated to students, teachers, and parents to promote road safety and to raise awareness around the issue of helmet use. Wat Preah Put primary school is located in a high-density traffic area along a main road in Phnom Penh. Approximately 80 percent of students commute to and from school during rush hour on motorcycles and bicycles, very few of whom wear helmets. With this donation, Helmets for Families has provided helmets to 499 students, 48 teachers, and 100 mothers as well as helmet training sessions to reinforce the importance of helmet use and remind parents and educators of their responsibility to act as models of good behavior. Prior to the handover ceremony, AIP Foundation and Manulife organized a teacher training on October 17th. At the training, a total of 39 teachers received instruction on helmet use and road safety. The importance of helmet use was conveyed with the aid of statistics from Cambodia's Road Crash Victim and Information System (RCVIS) and teachers sharing their personal stories of involvement in road crashes. The three steps of correct helmet use and effective teaching methods for maximum student engagement were also covered. The training resulted in teachers collaborating to form plans for educating and engaging their students with helmet use and road safety activities. Read the press release here and view the photos here.
Vespiario Thailand donates over 2,000 helmets to students in Bangkok and Ayuttaya
On September 24th, Vespiario Thailand and AIP Foundation Thailand donated 360 helmets to students and teachers of the Wat Sommanat School in Bangkok. The helmet handover was preceded by a teacher training on September 20th, during which teachers received lessons about how to educate students about road safety, and how to use the AIP Foundation-developed teaching aids to maintain high helmet-use rates and safer road behaviors throughout the school year. The majority of students from Wat Sommanat School commute to and from school by motorcycle without wearing helmets. Some students walk to school on a four-meter-wide main road without police or volunteers to help them cross the busy street. This school was selected for this donation as most students face a dangerous commute to school on a daily basis. On October 2nd, Vespiario also donated 2,000 extra-small helmets to kindergarten students from 17 schools in in Bangkok and Ayuttaya during a helmet handover ceremony at the Pibul Ooptum school. Read the press release here and check out the photos. Vespiario Thailand organizes "La Dolce Vita" Charity Gala Dinner to unveil the new Vespa 946 and benefit Helmets for Kids in Thailand
On Friday, October 4th, Vespiario (Thailand) Co., Ltd., the sole authorized distributor of Piaggio and Vespa in Thailand, unveiled Vespa's new model, Vespa 946, and announced plans for a "La Dolce Vita" Charity Gala Dinner the following day. The charity gala dinner was organized to celebrate the new model of this year's Ricordo Italiano collection and support the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation's "Help save one life by giving a child a helmet" initiative in Thailand. The "La Dolce Vita" charity gala dinner took place on Saturday October 5th at the Astor Ballroom of the St. Regis hotel in Bangkok and raised 99,000 US dollars, a significant portion of which will go to AIP Foundation's work in Thailand. The dinner and auction were attended by several famous Thai artists and celebrities including Polpat Asavaprapha, Chalit Nakpawan, Praophan Laohapongchana, Anak Navaraj, Raya Tejapaibul, and Dr. Disaphol Chansiri. The auction featured art pieces from famous artists and new and vintage limited edition Vespa models, including the Vespa LX125ie Limited Edition "MMFK collaboration 2013," which was specially produced for this event. The final item at auction was a one-of-a-kind white Vespa 946 which was hand-painted by Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul. Vespiario Thailand will donate the proceeds of the dinner and auction to AIP Foundation's efforts to promote child helmet use and increase road safety in Thailand. Check out the photos here. Helmets and road safety education provided to kindergarteners in Ayuttaya
On October 18th, AIP Foundation Thailand donated 210 helmets to and organized extra-curricular road safety activities for kindergarten students of the Talad Kreab Child Development Center. The activities included cartoons about road safety and safe pedestrian habits, pedestrian safety and proper helmet use training, and road safety games. Activities were organized as part of AIP Foundation's efforts to make Ayuttaya a model community for road safety where stakeholders may convene to work towards Thailand Helmet Vaccine Initiative's goal of 100% helmet wearing. Beginning with helmet distribution through Helmets for Kids, AIP Foundation aims to increase community awareness around the issues of road safety and child helmet use, and engage stakeholders and key influencers like temple leaders. Efforts are also being made to train community and spiritual leaders in project management and road safety as well as to increase enforcement of helmet laws. In this and many other low-income areas, purchasing helmets for children as young as kindergarten is thought of as an impractical luxury. Many parents make the assumption that small children will outgrow their helmets too quickly, or that they spend less times on motorbikes. This is an extremely dangerous assumption as small children usually ride on the front of their parents' motorbikes, putting them in even graver danger of potentially serious head injury as the result of road traffic crashes. For this reason, reaching young children and ensuring that they wear helmets is of the utmost importance. British Embassy Bangkok gives back to its community with a helmet donation at Wat Chaimongkol School
On October 28th, the British Embassy Bangkok donated 230 helmets to students and teachers of the Wat Chaimongkol School in Bangkok. The helmet donation launched the British Embassy Bangkok and AIP Foundation's partnership on the Helmets for Kids program to increase helmet use, provide road safety and pedestrian education, and ultimately reduce road traffic fatalities and injuries among children. This partnership is the first of its kind in Thailand, and shows a great commitment from the foreign government to its surrounding community. The helmets were donated during a helmet handover celebration attended by H.E. Mr. Mark Kent, British Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Mr. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Governor of Bangkok, and H.E. Mr. Pornpoth Penpas Deputy Director General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). In celebration of this donation, students organized a dance performance with their new helmets and a road safety fashion show. Founder and President of AIP Foundation, Greig Craft, led a proper helmet use demonstration for students and Country Director of AIP Foundation Thailand, Ratana Winther, spoke about the importance of child helmet use. Read the press release here and view the photos here.
Final evaluation results from Walk Wise Project pilot phase show reduction in student involvement in road crashes and injuries
A final evaluation of the pilot phase of the Walk Wise pedestrian safety project revealed encouraging results. The Walk Wise pilot implemented road safety education curricula at Qili and Gaoqiao primary schools in Kai County in China during the 2012-2013 school year. The report was completed by Sichuan University in August and the results were presented at the phase II launch in October. The evaluation is comprised of a comparison of baseline and post-implementation data. A majority of students reported to feel safer, almost all students know and practice how to cross the road safely, and road safety behaviors overall have improved greatly since the Walk Wise project implementation. The evaluation showed a decrease in the number of children involved in road traffic crashes; the baseline found that in the 2011-2012 school year, 43 percent of students were involved in a road traffic crash and 57 percent of those students were injured. At the end of the implementation year of 2012-2013, 23 percent of students were involved in a road traffic crash and only five percent of those students were injured. Walk Wise Project phase II launches in Kai County
On October 16th AIP Foundation China and Chevron launched the second phase of the Walk Wise Project which brings much needed road safety education to children and the community of the Chuandongbei (CDB) Gas Project area in Sichuan and Chongqing Provinces. The event was held at Hanfeng Primary School No. 4 in Kaixian, a school with 2,700 students. Students attended the launch event along with teachers, principals, parents, and government officials. These attendees jointly signed a commitment to make the roads in this area safer. In addition to the launch event, AIP Foundation hosted stakeholder and planning meetings with the education department to gear up for the second phase which integrates road safety education at 18 primary schools in Kai County. The Walk Wise Project was piloted in two primary schools in Kai County in 2012, and includes locally-tailored road safety curricula, teacher and parent trainings, traffic simulation corners on school grounds, and reflective caps and backpack straps for students. Phase II increases the scale and scope of phase one activities, and introduces several new components such as a new e-learning curriculum and environmental modification manuals and grants. Check out the photos. AIP Foundation China Country Manager attends Rotary China Conference
From October 19th-20th, AIP Foundation China Country Manager Xiaoyan Xu attended the first-ever Rotary China Conference in Chengdu. The conference was attended by non-governmental organizations and Rotary club members from Shanghai, Beijing, and around the world. Ms. Xu was invited to join a panel on road safety where she presented AIP Foundation's work in China and its other target countries. Following the panel, representatives from other NGOs in attendance shared ideas for projects and future collaboration with AIP Foundation. Walk Wise teacher training in Kai County
From October 23rd – 25th, teacher trainings were organized in Kai County as part of the phase II activities of the Walk Wise pedestrian safety project. More than 108 teachers from 18 project schools attended the training. Sessions covered the importance of road safety education, introduction of AIP Foundation's teaching tools, and tips for organizing practical exercises. Three demonstration classes were conducted in the host schools. The exercises were led by four teachers from last year's pilot schools in Gaoqiao, Kai County, two police representatives, and three AIP Foundation staff. The Education Department in Kai County provided organizational assistance, and the government of Kai County, the police, the Youth League Union, and the Care for the Next Generation Office endorsed the project activities. Teachers gave positive feedback for the trainings and vowed to pass on their newly acquired knowledge to students. Check out the photos.
News update: Walk this way: pedestrian road safety must be stepped up worldwide According to the annual crime report by the Uganda police, pedestrians made up 39.1 percent of road traffic deaths in 2011- the most of any category of road users. Pedestrians also accounted for 26.4 percent of those injured in traffic crashes. Walking is the most common means of transport in Africa, and increasing motorization is leading to increased injuries and fatalities among this highly vulnerable category of road users.
Kampala City Council Authority jumpstarts boda boda operator registration
On October 10th the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) officially jumpstarted the registration of all boda boda (motorcycle taxi) operators in Kampala. Boda boda operators and passengers remain among the most vulnerable road users in Uganda, and the new registration process represents an important step forward in government regulation of motorcycle safety. The registration will help the government enforce the helmet law and better organize road safety trainings and support services for the boda boda operators. The Uganda Helmet Vaccine Initiative is actively supporting this process by providing a free helmet and a road safety workshop to the first 400 boda boda operators who register from each the five districts of Kampala (2,000 boda boda operators total), as part of UHVI's 2013-2014 "Obulamu Bwe Obugagga – Wear a Helmet!" campaign. For more information, visit the Kampala City Council Authority website. |
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