Dear friends and supporters, September has been a big month in our efforts to increase child helmet use in Vietnam. With the new school year comes a renewed commitment from educators and parents to keep children safe. Follow-up visits to 32 Helmets for Kids project schools in August and September found even more children wearing helmets. The most recent results of our work to increase helmet use among boda boda motorcycle taxi operators in Uganda show encouraging progress as well. The road safety crisis has also been receiving global attention, with coverage from a ground-breaking series entitled "Roads Kill" by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis reporting, as well as a Cambodian dance troupe's take on the issue in a modern dance show. Raising awareness is the first step in eliciting meaningful behavior change, and we are so pleased with the significant strides that are being made. Read on to find out more. Kind regards, Mirjam Sidik
1. Global
2. Vietnam
3. Cambodia
4. Thailand
6. Uganda7. Tanzania
News UpdateNews Update: Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting covers road deaths as a global crisis in a series entitled "Roads Kill." The series reports stories from around the globe and is structured around an interactive map that acts as a data-rich story-telling platform. Roving over the map allows readers to access an assortment of road safety data, from trend lines on road fatalities to full reports and brief road facts.
News Update: Jamaican Prime Minister calls for the integration of road safety within wider development goals. Addressing the UN Forum on Sustainable Transport and Road Safety, Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller argued that the most effective way to reduce the appalling health burden of road traffic injuries is to integrate road safety within wider development goals. Mrs. Simpson Miller concluded that many vulnerable households are placed at a greater risk of falling below the poverty line when the main or sole breadwinner dies in a road crash.
UPS Foundation President presents another year of funding for
Helmets for Kids in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand
On September 23, UPS Foundation President Eduardo Martinez presented a check for $150,000 for a second year of funding for Helmets for Kids during a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. The funds will be used to support Helmets for Kids programming in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand to build capacity in schools and local governments to increase the use of helmets on two-wheel vehicles; to improve public awareness on road safety hazards; to encourage cross-sector partnerships to further support for the program; and to provide more than 27,500 helmets to children and teachers. This is the second year of a three-year commitment from the UPS Foundation totaling $450,000. In 2011, the UPS Foundation distributed more than $45.3 million worldwide through grants to organizations and programs that provide support for building stronger communities. AIP Foundation President and CEO give a lecture at CDC Grand Rounds
AIP Foundation President Greig Craft and CEO Mirjam Sidik travelled to the United States this month to deliver their lecture, "How to Save 5 Million Lives: Global Road Injury Prevention" at the CDC Injury Center's Grand Rounds in Atlanta, Georgia on September 26th. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been a valued partner of AIP Foundation for three years, providing support for monitoring, evaluation, and surveillance for programs in Cambodia and Uganda. Craft and Sidik's presentation provided background on the global crisis of road injuries and fatalities, the partnership between the CDC and AIP Foundation, as well as ongoing programs, methodologies, and results. AIP Foundation Cambodia Country Director attends the 21st World Conference on Health Promotion
From August 25-29, AIP Foundation's Cambodia Country Director Kim Pagna attended the 21st World Conference on Health Promotion jointly organized by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and Thai Health Promotion in Pattaya, Thailand. The conference, entitled "Best Investment for Health," aimed to advance global health and health promotion through the presentation and dissemination of knowledge, lessons learned, and best practices. The conference provided an opportunity for policy makers, advocates, global health researchers, academics, practitioners, and stakeholders from around the globe to share and exchange their knowledge and experiences. Pagna presented "Prevalence of and barriers to motorcycle passenger helmet use in Cambodia" on behalf of co-authors Handicap International, CDC, and Universita Cal Foscari Venice.
Johnson & Johnson
Helmets for Kids follows up with school visits and teacher trainings
From August 27 to September 20, AIP Foundation, together with the Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, and Dong Nai Traffic Safety Committees and Departments of Education and Training, organized training workshops for teachers from 32 Helmets for Kids project schools across the three provinces. During these workshops, 377 teachers and local partners received training on helmet use and how to most effectively teach students and parents about the importance of wearing a helmet. Representatives visited schools to check in on helmet use rates, restate the importance of helmet use on both motorcycles and bicycles, and collect crash cases. One such crash case was that of fourth-grader Dao Quang Duy. This August, Duy was riding to school on his bicycle when he collided with a motorcycle and fell into the street. Thanks to the helmet that Johnson & Johnson donated, Duy was protected from a serious head injury and he walked away with only a few minor scratches. Sealed Air enters its 7th year as a
Helmets for Kids sponsor with a handover ceremony in Hai Duong
On September 17, Sealed Air Corporation launched its seventh year as a Helmets for Kids sponsor with a helmet handover ceremony at Cam Thuong School in Hai Duong province. Sealed Air donated 260 helmets to first graders and teachers, as well as older students who had outgrown or damaged the helmets that they had previously received. The company has been supporting the Helmet for Kids program since 2007 through Diversey, now a business division within Sealed Air. The helmet handover celebration featured student performances and remarks by community members and educators as well interactions between students and Stefan Phang, Sealed Air's regional director of sustainability. In the past six years of this partnership, Sealed Air and AIP Foundation have donated approximately 1,814 helmets and nearly six years of traffic safety education. New activities for this school year include traffic safety and child helmet use training for all teachers and parents, a road safety festival for students and teachers, and the installation of a billboard at the school gates that reminds parents to put helmets on their children. Read the press release here and check out the photos. Public awareness campaign "Children also need a helmet" Phase III launches in Danang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City
This month AIP Foundation held launch events for Phase III of its public awareness campaign "Children also need a helmet" in Danang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. "Children also need a helmet" is a national campaign that was launched in 2011 by the National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Education and Training, and AIP Foundation. The goal of the campaign is to improve the rate of helmet use among children, correct parents’ misconceptions about helmet use among children, and increase awareness around road safety issues with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of road traffic crash injuries and fatalities. Phase III of the campaign will run from September to December 2013 and will include many components aimed at increasing the helmet use rates among children including in-class education, online media, police enforcement, and upgrading the roles of road safety partners. View the photos from all three events here. Online "Make a pledge for child helmet use" drive begins
On September 18, AIP Foundation's "Children also need a helmet" public awareness campaign launched an initiative asking parents to make a pledge to put helmets on their children in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City. Pledges can be made online, in person at in-school events, or by mail. The pledge drive is just one component of the public awareness campaign's Phase III activities intended to remind parents that child helmet use is their responsibility. Parents who sign the pledge will be entered in a lucky draw and each week a winner will be chosen to receive a free Protec helmet. During Phase II of the campaign, more than 175,000 parents pledged to put helmets on their children and observed child helmet use in these three cities increased from 31 to 47 percent. Click here to Make a Pledge for yourself and get a chance for lucky draw Protec helmet. The "Kids love helmets" photo contest launches nationwide
On September 20, the "Children also need a helmet" campaign launched the "Kids love helmets" photo contest nationwide. Parents are invited to submit photos of their children wearing helmets to the "Children also need a helmet" Facebook page and the photos with the most likes will receive free Protec helmets. The individual who submits the most-liked photo will win a trip to Phu Quoc Island. The contest will run from September 20 to November 20 and is open to all parents in Vietnam. Other online activities include a call to action for parents to put helmets on their children and useful information covering proper helmet use, driving safety facts, and tips on how to choose a quality helmet. Click here to enter the contest. "Helmet day with primary students" public awareness event in Danang
On September 28, the Danang Department of Education and Training (DoET), Traffic Safety Committee (TSC), and AIP Foundation cooperatively organized the "Helmet day with primary students" in the Cam Le district of Danang. Representatives from the Danang People's Committee, Department of Education and Training, local Traffic Safety Committees, parents, and students attended the event. Stakeholders delivered speeches calling parents to action to encourage child helmet use and all representatives of the Department of Education and Training signed a commitment to enact a child helmet use law. Road safety awareness-raising films were shown, and students who could not afford quality helmets received them as donations. Activities included a helmet-painting contest, road safety communicator competition, a flash mob performance with helmets, and a road safety skit to affirm the importance of helmet use. The "Helmet day with primary students" is the result of one of two small grants for local child helmet initiatives from Phase III of the "Children also need a helmet" public awareness campaign in Danang. View festival photos here.
News UpdateHello moto? Dance troupe addresses road safety issue. A dance troupe based out of Phnom Penh is taking on a new theme for their latest performance - road safety. Before every performance of MOTO MOTO the audience is informed that around four people die every day as a result of a motorcycle related crash. Epic Arts still needs $5,000 to tour the production, but the troupe believes the country is in desperate need of a road safety awakening.
Consultative meeting held with stakeholders on road safety educational website
On September 2, AIP Foundation conducted a consultative meeting with relevant government officials, civil society groups, road safety stakeholders, and students from four universities in Cambodia with the goal of gauging youth attitudes towards the Safe Roads Cambodia website. Attendees shared their diverse perspectives and suggested revisions to the site. Many comments focused on headers, navigation, social media, and publicity.
Vespiario Thailand trains teachers and fits students for helmets at Wat Sommanat School
On September 4, AIP Foundation Thailand visited the Wat Sommanant School in Bangkok for pre-survey and head-size measurement in preparation for a helmet donation by Vespiario Thailand. Funding for this helmet donation comes from the sale of a limited edition "Vespa LX 125ie Limited Edition 2" scooter that was released to benefit the "Save a child. Give a helmet." initiative in Thailand. This school was selected for this donation as most students face a dangerous daily commute to school on motorcycles and do not have access to quality helmets. Some students walk to school on a four-meter-wide main road without police or volunteers to help them cross the road safely. A follow-up helmet-fitting and teacher training took place on September 20th in preparation for a helmet handover that took place on September 24. AIP Foundation also held trainings for teachers on how to educate students about road safety, how to use the program's teaching aids to maintain high helmet-use rates, and how to encourage safer road behaviors throughout the school year. Check out the photos here. AIP Foundation Thailand Country Director attends meeting of the Sub-Committee for Safe Road Behavior
On September 18, AIP Foundation Thailand Country Director Ratana Winther attended the meeting of the sub-committee for Safe Road Behavior under the National Safety Directing Centre at the Headquarters of the sub-committee chair, the Royal Thai Police. The meeting was attended by the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior (DDPM) and private sector partners including Honda, RVP, and DrinkDontDrive Foundation. The Royal Thai Police reported that the number of cases of motorcycle drivers and passengers not wearing helmets increased between January and March 2013. Reports also showed that there were more violations recorded for drivers and passengers not wearing helmets from April to June 2013. Results of a random survey by the Thai Roads Foundation revealed that the helmet wearing rate in urban areas decreased among both drivers and passengers in the period from January to March of 2013 compared with 2012; however, the wearing rate in rural areas increased. An agreement was reached to increase efforts to promote road safety culture with a new road safety curriculum in schools, stricter enforcement of helmet laws, and new measures to curb drunk driving.
Evaluation of Phase I of the Uganda Helmet Vaccine Initiative brings encouraging results
The Uganda Helmet Vaccine Initiative (UHVI) received encouraging results from the final evaluation of Phase I of the "Obulamu Bwe Obugagga – Wear a Helmet!" campaign, which included road safety workshops and helmet provision for 900 boda boda operators, police enforcement workshops, and a comprehensive media campaign. The report showed that the helmet wearing rate among boda boda operators in Kampala has increased from 31 percent to 49 percent since UHVI launched in 2009. This is a significant improvement compared to the control city of Mbale which did not receive UHVI's intervention.
News UpdateNews Update: Tanga road carnage claims 78 in eight months- Traffic crashes claimed 78 lives between January and August this year in Tanzania's Tanga region. This is a 14.7 percent increase in fatalities from the same period last year. Along with enhanced enforcement by police, a Road Safety Week with the slogan 'Road safety starts with me, you and all of us' will be held at the national level in Mwanza city.
The Road Safety Fund hosts Decade of Action for Road Safety policy roundtable in Dar es Salaam
On September 4, the Road Safety Fund hosted a Decade of Action for Road Safety policy roundtable in Dar es Salaam to discuss ways to advance the road safety agenda in Tanzania and the region. The meeting represented the first time such a wide range of high level donors in Tanzania have come together to discuss road safety. AIP Foundation's Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative (GHVI) contributed to the discussion panel, with representatives from both the Helmet Vaccine Initiative – Tanzania and the Uganda Helmet Vaccine Initiative participating. For more information, visit the Road Safety Fund website |
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