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Global Newsletter August 2019 |
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Dear Friends and Supporters, August has been a month for educating students and stakeholders, sharing knowledge across countries to promote safer roads and road users, and preparing for the upcoming school year. This month, AIP Foundation trained students from grades 3 to 12 on wearing helmets properly and understanding road crashes worldwide at the 7th Annual NGO Fair at the Canadian International School (CIS) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In Cambodia, AIP Foundation engaged an audience of 400 people at the Manulife office in Phnom Penh, where we presented on the importance of leveraging partnerships to influence road traffic laws, improve enforcement, and increase helmet use to ultimately save more lives. This month, AIP Foundation exchanged knowledge and information with stakeholders and parliamentarians from across numerous countries. We opened up the discussion on the importance of motorcycle crash data collection at the 12th Annual Asian Transportation Research Society (ATRANS) Conference and presented on lessons learned from our experience promoting the passage of the national helmet law in Vietnam at the launch of the ASEAN-WHO South-East Asia Regional Network for Road Safety Legislators, which united policymakers from 10 countries. AIP Foundation has also been busy gearing up for the start of the school year with the launch of the next phase of our multi-country Safety Delivered program. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we selected four new primary schools for helmet distributions and education campaigns and we expect to reach 5,000 students at five target universities to promote safe driving behavior through the next phase of the program. We are excited for what the upcoming months hold and look forward to your continued engagement and support. For more information on our activities, achievements, and related road crash intervention news, please read on. Kind regards, Mirjam Sidik
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Table of Contents |
Global |
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Vietnam |
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Cambodia |
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Thailand |
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Myanmar |
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Employment Opportunities
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Global |
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Photo of the Month: AIP Foundation speaks to 400 at Manulife on saving lives in Cambodia
Manulife Cambodia recently invited AIP Foundation Cambodia Country Director, Pagna Kim, and Cambodia Program Manager, Piseth Im, to speak to an audience of 400 people and deliver a presentation titled, "Our Road Safety Partnership: Saving Many Lives in Cambodia" at its office in Phnom Penh. The presentation highlighted the successes of AIP Foundation's partnership with Manulife Cambodia, including results from the Helmets for Families program, which began in 2012. AIP Foundation discussed how our advocacy efforts and programs, including our partnership with Manulife Cambodia through Helmets for Families, and important road traffic law changes and enforcement improvements have contributed to an increase in helmet use and substantial reductions in fatalities and injuries. During the 2018-2019 school year of the Helmets for Families program, total student knowledge of proper helmet use increased from 66% to 84% at Hun Sen Krong Primary School and pre- and post-training assessments indicate that teachers' knowledge of correct helmet use increased from 60.5% to 95.2%. Since 2012, Manulife Cambodia and AIP Foundation have donated 5,000 high-quality helmets to students and delivered road safety education and skills to 7 schools, 5,000 students, 261 teachers, and 9,129 parents. In addition to its positive contributions at target schools and communities, Manulife endorsed the joint policy recommendation on motorcycle passenger helmet use with over 100 stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, and international community in 2013. The joint effort led to the successful adoption of Cambodia’s new law requiring motorcycle passengers to wear helmets in 2015. For the second year in a row, Manulife Cambodia will also support the Annual Road Safety Conference in Cambodia on September 4-5, 2019, which aims to promote more effective measures to reduce road injuries and fatalities. In recognition of their commitment to improving road safety, Manulife Cambodia has won awards at both the national and international level, including The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Leadership of the Year award from Asia Pacific Customer Service Consortium and Certificates of Appreciation from the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) in 2018 and 2019. View more photos here. |
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Slow Zones, Safe Zones project in Vietnam featured in BMJ Injury Prevention blog
Can you imagine… that there are 68 people are killed on our roads in Vietnam every day? Every single day, 68 people leave their homes in the morning and never return. This is the same as one Airbus A380 crashing every week – with everyone on board dying. It’s a tragedy that goes beyond imagination. It is particularly difficult to accept that children and young people are the most affected. AIP Foundation partnered with the George Institute for Global Health UK and the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) to discuss our Slow Zones, Safe Zones project in Vietnam, with support from Fondation Botnar. Read the entire blog post here. |
Vietnam |
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Safety Delivered PSA alerts parents in Vietnam with the message, "Love your child, provide a helmet.”
AIP Foundation is leveraging the influence of social media channels to spread messages on the importance of safe driving behavior and helmet use to parents and communities nationwide in Vietnam for its Safety Delivered program, supported by The UPS Foundation. In August, AIP Foundation aired a PSA titled, "Đội mũ cho con, trọn tình cha mẹ" (meaning: "Love your child, provide a helmet") on its Vietnamese Safety Delivered Facebook fan page, reaching over 2,000 views in just two weeks. The thirty-second PSA encourages parents to consider the potential message they could be sending their child if they do not enforce helmet wearing and aims to promote safer behavior among parents and their children in the future. From 2019 to 2020, Safety Delivered is set to reach a total of more than 10,500 students and teachers in Vietnam. Through this program, students and teachers will receive free or subsidized helmets, in addition to road safety education and awareness-raising programs for communities. |
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AIP Foundation staff engages future changemakers at the Canadian International School's NGO Fair
The 7th Annual NGO Fair at the Canadian International School (CIS) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam recently brought together local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for an exciting day of student engagement and education. CIS students from grades 3-12 attended the fair and engaged with AIP Foundation staff to learn more about helmet legislation, road crash facts and statistics, and the importance of wearing helmets properly. AIP Foundation's engagement with students involved a spinning wheel game, where students landed randomly on a trivia question relating to road safety and engaged with their peers to find out the correct answer. AIP Foundation staff also demonstrated the correct way to wear and adjust helmets through interactive sessions. Reading materials were also available for students, teachers, and staff, to learn more about road crash statistics and injury prevention measures in Vietnam. One student expressed, "I learned a lot of new information today. I'm going to teach all my friends how to properly wear a helmet now." Other organizations also present at the fair included Saigon Children's Charity CIO, The VinaCapital Foundation, Kid.kickstart, CHANGE, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, Maison Chance, Happier, Hope Unending, FTM Vietnam Organization, The Cancer Voice, Live with Autism, Green Bamboo Shelter, A.R.C. (Animal Rescue and Care), Operation Smile Vietnam, Thảo Đàn Social Services (Cơ sở Bảo trợ Xã Hội Thảo Đàn), and Wild Rhino - Wilderness Foundation Africa. The event was organized by the school's Global Issues Network (GIN) council, which is comprised of students, teachers, and staff. According to the GIN Council, there are many student-led clubs dedicated to tackling various global issues at CIS. The annual NGO Fair provides students an engaging opportunity to deepen their understanding of complex issues, while also building their relationships with local NGOs. The CIS NGO Fair aims to educate students and inspire students to make positive changes in the world. |
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Related News: Film making contest held for traffic safety
A film making contest about traffic safety with the theme ‘Drinking Alcohol – Not Driving’ has been launched in Hanoi recently. The nationwide contest is held by the National Traffic Safety Committee in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security and Toyota Vietnam Company. This is the 10th contest to be launched to promote government policies on ensuring traffic order and safety. Read more about the contest and awards here. |
Cambodia |
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Cambodia's National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) discusses action plans to decrease road casualty rates
Members of government bodies, civil society, and the private sector recently convened at a quarterly meeting to discuss the implementation of national road safety action plans in Cambodia. The meeting was chaired by H.E Min Meanvy, Secretary of State, Minister of Public Work and Transport, and Secretary-General of the National Road Safety Committee. Nearly 40 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC), the National Police, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The meeting aimed to improve coordination among stakeholders and promote understanding of the current state of the road crash crisis. Participants discussed the National Road Safety Committee's action plan and potential challenges for implementation and also received input from representatives of the private sector and civil society regarding their potential activities and contributions. The meeting also garnered greater support for the upcoming Second Annual Road Safety Conference in Cambodia, which will be held on 4-5 September, 2019, as well as for fundraising activities to support the implementation of road safety measures next year. One key point of the discussions included potential activities that can minimize fatalities and casualty rates in Cambodia during special holidays or events, such as the upcoming Pchum Ben Festival, which will be held for two weeks this September. See more photos from the conference here. |
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Safety Delivered will reach 5,000 university students in Phnom Penh
AIP Foundation met with local university leaders to discuss its helmet safety and education programs, including Safety Delivered and Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety (YARS) to select five target universities for future program intervention. With the support of The UPS Foundation, Safety Delivered will reach 5,000 Cambodian students over the next two years as part of Phase II of the program in 2019-2020. Safety Delivered aims to reduce road crash injuries and fatalities among vulnerable motorcyclists, including child passengers and young, novice drivers through three mutually reinforcing components: education and skills building, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy. The education and skills building component draws upon the influence that university representatives have with their peers to improve driving behaviors of young people at universities in target areas. University representatives will also attend a Training of Trainers (ToT) program where they will receive specialized coaching on peer education. The students will work in a coordinated effort to facilitate youth road safety education, distribute educational materials, and impart information contained in the driving skills toolkit to their peers. View more photos here. |
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Four new primary schools in Phnom Penh, Cambodia are selected for
Safety Delivered programming
Following the success of AIP Foundation's multi-country Safety Delivered program, four additional primary schools in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, have been selected for helmet distributions, training workshops, and educational campaigns. Two of the new program schools, Chbar Ompov 2 and Khean Klang, are set for program implementation in 2019, and Hang Ngay Srah Chak and Chey Chum Nas primary schools are set for program implementation in 2020. Across the four schools, an estimated total of 1,707 helmets will be distributed, including 1,570 helmets donated to students, and 137 helmets for teachers. Safety Delivered aims to reduce road crash injuries and fatalities among vulnerable motorcyclists and passengers, and young, novice drivers through three mutually reinforcing components, including education and skills building, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy. At the new and existing primary schools, the education and skills building component of Safety Delivered will involve the distribution of helmets to primary school students and teachers, and the implementation of educational activities to build their capacity on road safety issues. Two of the project schools with the highest rates of students relying on motorcycles as a means of transport include Chey Chum Nas Primary School and Hang Ngay Srah Chak Primary School. Of the 795 students at Chey Chum Nas Primary School, 569 students or over 70 percent are transported to school by motorcycles. At Hang Ngay Srah Chak Primary School, which is comprised of 436 students, 338 or over 75 percent are transported to school via motorcycle. With the high percentages of students who arrive to school by motorcycle, increasing the number of students wearing helmets will be a vital component to promoting the safety of children on the roads. In addition to students, the program will also target the helmet wearing rates of teachers and community members. |
Thailand |
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Launch of ASEAN-WHO South-East Asia Regional Network for Road Safety Legislators
The recent launch of the ASEAN-WHO South-East Asia Regional Network for Road Safety Legislators brought together leaders from 10 countries to Bangkok, Thailand to unite parliamentarians and strengthen advocacy efforts to reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities across Southeast Asia. The World Health Organization (WHO) coordinated the event, where international experts and local observers met to promote the formation of a regional network of countries in the WHO South-East and Western Pacific Regions and also strengthen regional mechanisms, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The meeting aligns with the goal of the Global Network for Road Safety Legislators to unite parliamentarians across the world behind advocacy efforts to support road safety policy actions. AIP Foundation Thailand Country Manager, Mr. Sawai Seesai, joined the meeting to share key learnings and experiences from the passage of the national helmet law in Vietnam in 2007. The Global Network for Road Safety Legislators was launched in December 2016 and is coordinated by the WHO and supported by the FIA Foundation. The Global Network is led by a Leadership Council composed of parliamentarians representing the WHO’s six regions: the African Region, Region of the Americas, South-East Asia Region, European Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, and Western Pacific Region. Read additional coverage of the event from the FIA Foundation here. |
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Related News: Thailand’s Roads Are Deadly. Especially if You’re Poor.
In Thailand, one of the world’s most unequal societies, even its roads have a rigid hierarchy, with the poor far more likely to be killed in accidents than the well-off and well-connected. And there are many deaths: Thailand had the world’s second highest-rate of road fatalities per capita, surpassed only by war-afflicted, lawless Libya, according to a 2015 report from the World Health Organization. When it comes to per-capita motorcycle deaths, the country is No. 1. Read the rest of The New York Times article here. |
Myanmar |
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Three target schools in Mandalay region selected for
Safety Delivered
Following the positive impact of AIP Foundation’s Safety Delivered program in Myanmar in 2018, the program entered into Phase II in partnership with the Mandalay Region Education Office, supported by The UPS Foundation, to deliver school-based helmet safety programs between April 2019 and December 2020. Three target schools have been selected for program implementation. No. (32) Basic Education High School and No. (20) Affiliate of Basic Education High School in Pyi Gyi Dagon Township have been selected for program implementation in 2019, and programs at No. (13) Affiliate of Basic Education High School in Chan Mya Thar Zi Township will be implemented in 2020. Key activities will include conducting training sessions for all school teachers on helmet fitting and proper helmet use by children, providing 3,000 helmets to students and teachers over the two-year program period, launching helmet handover ceremonies, and conducting research for pre- and post-intervention analysis. Through a preventive approach that targets youth at earlier stages of life, the program aims to equip young drivers with skills that will influence the remainder of their adolescence and continue into their adult life. |
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