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Global Newsletter July 2015 |
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Dear Friends and Supporters, This month, we had the great honor of welcoming Second Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, on her visit to Vietnam. Dr. Biden showed her support for our cause by delivering helmets to disadvantaged kids in Hanoi. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius reiterated his strong support to the recent Public-Private Partnership signed between the State Department and AIP Foundation, which will provide tens of thousands of helmets to rural populations in Vietnam. We are excited and proud to watch such necessary momentum build among leaders ahead of the new school year. To further support children as they enter the new school year, we have launched an online fundraising campaign called the 3E Project: Educate, Equip, and Empower. Join us to help children in Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam to be safer road users. Your donation could save a life. See below to read more on AIP Foundation’s activities and achievements throughout the month. Please also take note that our website URL has been updated to www.aip-foundation.org. 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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China |
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Tanzania |
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Employment Opportunities
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Global |
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Photo of the month
U.S. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden greeted disadvantaged kids and gave them quality helmets in Hanoi during her recent visit to Vietnam. Have a relevant road safety photo? Tag AIP Foundation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a chance to have your photo featured! |
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AIP Foundation receives global award for pedestrian safety at PREVCON ’15
On the closing day of the 2015 Child Injury Prevention Convention (PREVCON) in Washington, D.C., AIP Foundation was announced the winner of the Safe Kids Worldwide (SKW) international program award for pedestrian safety. The award recognizes AIP Foundation’s achievements in implementing the Safe Kids Walk this Way program in Vietnam, as distinct from among the 11 countries and hundreds of communities worldwide that have the program. Launched globally in 1999 by SKW and FedEx, Walk this Way promotes pedestrian safety in at-risk communities through four main components: awareness and advocacy activities; infrastructure improvements; research; and, education programs. Since 2009, AIP Foundation as Safe Kids Vietnam has implemented Walk this Way across four target provinces, reaching 92,647 students from 118 primary and secondary schools. At the ceremony, SKW took the opportunity to further congratulate AIP Foundation on notable successes in engaging governmental and other stakeholders meaningfully, contributing to increased helmet wearing rates, and gathering over 500,000 signatures for the #SaveKidsLives campaign. PREVCON is an annual gathering of injury prevention leaders and advocates from across the United States and around the world. It is designed to spark new ideas, drive innovative approaches to safety, and contribute overall to Safe Kids’ decade goal of halving the average number of fatalities from preventable injuries by 2020. Read more about PREVCON ’15 here. Support the #SaveKidsLives campaign here. |
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Over 500,000 Child Declaration signatures collected by AIP Foundation
AIP Foundation, with the help of Ministries and Departments of Education and schools, collected 510,768 signatures from across Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, in support of the Child Declaration. Part of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, the Child Declaration is a global call to action for governments to commit to halving road deaths in the Post-2015 Development Goals. In Asia, leaders and officials have voiced strong commitment to the cause. Vietnam’s Minister of Transport, Dinh La Thang noted, “We must all hear what the children are declaring: the streets are dangerous, action is necessary to protect children, and collaboration is important.” The Ministry of Transport and National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) announced a new helmet donation program under which the NTSC will support the distribution of helmets to students from at-risk communities in Vietnam. Children, too, understand the urgent need for action. “I wish leaders will take action to keep children safe on the road. We want to go to school without worrying about traffic crashes,” spoke student Nguyen Duc Thinh from Vietnam, who in 2013 was involved in a serious crash. Thinh and peer Hong Anh presented 1,700 collected Child Declaration signatures from Hanoi to the Minister of Transport. Click here to sign the Child Declaration and keep kids safe. |
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Call for donors ahead of new school year
Approximately 220,000 children die on the world’s roads every year. For each child that dies, four more suffer from permanent disabilities and 10 more suffer from serious injuries. Far too many children continue to be unprotected on their daily commute. We have launched an online fundraising campaign called the 3E Project to reach out to disadvantaged children in our target countries (Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam). Through this project, we plan to educate, equip, and empower children to be safer road users. |
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Related news: “Traffic takes a tremendous global toll, but cheap fixes can save lives”
More than 1 million people die in traffic deaths around the world each year — that's drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians combined. A new report, Cities Safer by Design, is proposing ideas to bring the numbers down. The report, from the World Resources Institute, was released this week. The solutions aren't revolutionary. Speed bumps really do slow down traffic. A pedestrian island is a safe haven for someone caught mid-road when the traffic light changes. These kinds of design changes don't cost a lot but can have a big payoff. But redesign can't eliminate every traffic death. "Infrastructure is part of the solution," says David Sleet, a specialist at the Centers for Disease Control's division of Unintentional Injury Prevention. "The other part is a change in the culture of driving, walking, biking behavior." In other words: "Wear seat belts, use helmets, manage speed and avoid drinking and walking/driving/cycling." In Vietnam, compulsory helmet-wearing laws on all roads, supported by tough enforcement and penalties, dramatically increased compliance and wearing rates and reduced injuries and fatalities dramatically. In 2011, only 34% of cyclists in Vietnam's Ha Nam province used helmets, and today 76% do. See NPR’s full article here to read more. |
Vietnam |
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Thai delegation visits Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee
In late June, a delegation from Thailand lead by Dr. Bundit Sornpaisan, Director of Health Care and all Risk Control from Thai Health Promotion Foundation, visited Vietnam's National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC). President of AIP Foundation Greig Craft was invited to attend the meeting. Craft shared Vietnam’s experience with the implementation of the helmet law and AIP Foundation’s public awareness campaigns on helmet use. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration and experience-sharing between ASEAN countries on this issue. |
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Vietnam Party Chief’s U.S. visit marks a turning point
July’s visit to the U.S. by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was a turning point in the 20 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This was the first time a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam made a visit to the U.S.. The visit came at a symbolic moment as the two countries are marking the 20th anniversary of normalized diplomatic ties. Source: Thanh Nien News |
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Ford Vietnam gets first Vietnamese managing director
Ford Motor Company announced the appointment of Pham Van Dung to Managing Director, Ford Vietnam, effective August 1, marking the first time a Vietnamese national will hold this title. Dung joined Ford Vietnam in 1998 as a corporate accountant in Finance, and currently serves as Finance Director of Ford Vietnam. In his new role, Dung will have overall responsibility for leading the continued growth of Ford’s operations in Vietnam, including both the company’s corporate functions and Hai Duong assembly operations. Read more about Dung’s background here. |
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Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of the United States, promotes road safety during her visit to Vietnam
Second Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden touched down at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport to be greeted on the tarmac by U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Greig Craft, President of AIP Foundation. A group of five children were on-hand to receive motorcycle helmets from Dr. Biden carrying the 20th Anniversary logo of normalization of U.S.–Vietnam diplomatic relations. On the occasion, Greig Craft presented Dr. Biden with a special commemorative helmet which will be displayed in the White House. Ambassador Osius underlined his strong support for the new Public–Private Partnership (PPP) between the State Department and AIP Foundation, with key sponsorship from U.S. companies. Launched in May, the PPP will distribute a total of 25,000 child helmets across 15 rural provinces during the 20th anniversary year. Craft’s goal is to donate 2.5 million child helmets to other developing countries within the next 5 years. Read more in our press release
here and the White House’s press release
here.
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AIP Foundation and Ford present donation to Vietnam’s Road Victim Relief Fund
AIP Foundation and Ford Vietnam presented a donation of 210 million VND (US $9,626) to the Road Victim Relief Fund of Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC). This took place on NTSC premises in Hanoi as part of the Ford Motor Company’s Driving Skills For Life (DSLF) program, which is in its 9th year of implementation in the Asia Pacific Region. Attendees included Mr. Pham Van Dung, Managing Director of Ford Vietnam; Mr. Nguyen Trong Thai, Chief of the NTSC; Dr. Khuat Viet Hung, Vice Chairman of the NTSC; representatives of the National Police and Ministry of Transport; and Mr. Greig Craft, President of AIP Foundation. The NTSC representatives took the opportunity to highlight the important contribution made by Ford Vietnam and AIP Foundation’s collaboration. At no cost to participants, the 2015 DSLF program in Vietnam will offer 1,500 drivers comprehensive courses and hands-on trainings to improve road safety and fuel economy. Target groups include school-bus drivers, taxi drivers, and young drivers. Overall, the DSLF program works in Vietnam well as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar to reduce the devastating number of road deaths and the harmful environmental effects of cars in these countries and globally. |
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Related news: “Former President Bill Clinton makes fifth visit to celebrate 20 years of normalized U.S.-Vietnam relations”
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton joined the 20th Anniversary Gala reception in Hanoi on 2 July, 2015, where he delivered remarks to an audience of over 1,000 guests. The Gala commemorates the 20th anniversary of the historic normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. The 1995 announcement was one of many actions taken by President Clinton to help the two nations embrace the spirit of reconciliation and move into the future together, including the lifting of the trade embargo and the negotiation of a bilateral trade agreement. Read more about the visit here. Read President Clinton’s full address here. |
Cambodia |
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AIP Foundation goes live on the radio to discuss child helmet requirements
AIP Foundation and the National Police of Cambodia held a joint radio discussion on child helmet laws. A week prior to the discussion on 8 July, the Cambodian government issued a sub-degree stipulating a fine for non-helmeted adult motorcycle passengers, to take effect January 2016. However, the sub-degree failed to include a fine for non-helmeted children. AIP Foundation used the show as one of many activities aimed at advocating for the inclusion of such a fine, in order to save children’s lives. |
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Media—“Agents for Change”—advocate for child helmet use across Cambodia
AIP Foundation, in collaboration with the Club of Cambodian Journalists, organized a forum with over 90 high-level media representatives to discuss how they can support efforts to increase child helmet use. Attendees discussed the cost- and lives- savings analysis of passenger helmet laws, and how to effectively cover topics in road safety and helmet use to engage a wider community. As “Agents for Change”, media actors and policymakers have a pivotal role to play in increasing knowledge about the new Road Traffic Law, and in ultimately influencing good road safety behavior. Overall, the “Agents for Change” initiative utilizes forums, workshops, trainings, and awards to build capacity and collaboration among media platforms. Key activities include a policymaker training workshop held in May 2015, a journalist training workshop scheduled for September 2015, and “Excellence Awards” for effective road safety communications. Read the press release here. |
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Billboards promoting passenger helmets viewed by one million road users per day
“Protect your passengers’ lives. Make sure they wear helmets.” is the tagline featured on AIP Foundation’s six billboards along three national roads in six target districts in Cambodia. It is estimated that approximately 1,000,000 road users view the two billboards in Phnom Penh city alone each day. |
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Mid-term assessment on behavior change campaign starts
AIP Foundation started a mid-term assessment to measure the effectiveness of its campaign to affect positive changes in the knowledge, attitude, and practice of motorcycle passengers across three target provinces in Cambodia – Kandal, Kampong Speu, and Phnom Penh. The behavior change assessment comes after one year of the “Head Safe. Helmet On.” project implementation and is scheduled to take place from the end of July to early September 2015. More than 400 respondents from the target provinces will participate in the assessment. Its findings will be used to inform the project’s second year and improve commercials and other communication materials. |
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Related news: “Traffic Law fines set”
A sub-decree being drafted by the Interior Ministry is adding teeth in the form of markedly heavier fines to the Kingdom’s nearly 6-month-old, still yet-to-be enforced, Traffic Law. Under the sub-decree’s terms, motorcyclists and motorcycle passengers who fail to wear a helmet will have to pay 15,000 riel (3.75 USD) – a five-fold increase on the 3,000 riel (0.75 USD) fine currently only levied against the vehicle’s drivers. The sub-decree fills a gap in the new Traffic Law, approved in December 2015, which established stricter rules on crash helmets and the use of seatbelts, but did not state the penalties offenders would incur. Both the Traffic Law and the new sub-decree are set to come into force in January, with Director of the Interior Ministry’s Public Order Department, Run Rathveasna, saying the coming months would be a phase of “education and awareness” during which authorities will communicate the coming changes to the public. Source: Phnom Penh Post |
Thailand |
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Stakeholders work with AIP Foundation to increase child helmet use
AIP Foundation, supported by ARRB Group, conducted a stakeholder meeting for the upcoming Helmets for Kids project at Prathom Taveetha Pisek School in Bangkok. AIP Foundation met with police officers, teacher coordinators, traffic police, and educational officers to introduce upcoming activities and discuss their involvement with the project. Participants agreed to work closely together to increase helmet wearing rates among students. |
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Teachers prepare for a safe school year with ARRB helmet safety training
A training on helmet law was delivered to 33 teachers of Prathom Taveetha Pisek School as part of the Helmets for Kids project. Support for the project is provided by ARRB Group, one of Australia’s most trusted road safety advisors, in collaboration with the Matilda Bay and Srapathum Rotary Clubs. Topics covered included how to maintain the proper condition of helmets, and how to wear them correctly. Teachers discussed their roles and responsibilities in the Helmets for Kids project throughout the upcoming year and the ways in which they will put into use the materials and teaching aids distributed during the training. |
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Street Wise progress and updates reviewed after first year
AIP Foundation visited Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Limited at SCB Park Plaza to discuss progress and next steps in their joint project, Street Wise, which kicked off last summer. Ms. Anamika Tangsakulnurak, Street Wise Program Officer, presented a progress report on year one of project implementation. AIP Foundation briefed participants on plans for the launch ceremony in Songkhla Province on 23 July, 2015. To conclude, Ms. Pornsuree Konanta, Manager of Brand and Communications at Chevron Thailand, handed over the check for the last tranche of project funds to Ms. Ratanawadee Hemnithi Winther, Chairperson of AIP Foundation in Thailand. |
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Chevron supports road safety project to bring positive change to Songkhla
More than 500 teachers, students, and parents from five schools in Singhanakhon District gathered together with special guests to launch the Street Wise project in Songkhla Province. Street Wise, supported by Chevron Thailand Exploration & Production, Ltd., aims to improve road safety awareness and behaviors of communities in Singhanakorn and Muang districts. To kick off the project, 1,000 helmets provided by Chevron with support from the Road Accident Victims Protection Company Limited were distributed to project school students. The Street Wise curriculum, which covers pedestrian, bicycle, bus, and motorcycle safety, was also symbolically handed out to students at the event. This primary-level curriculum is the first road safety curriculum launched by AIP Foundation in Thailand as well as the first road safety curriculum designed specifically for children in Songkhla Province. Read the press release here. |
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Related news: “Motorcycle kills road safety petitioner in Pathum Thani”
A woman was run over and killed by a motorcycle moments after she signed a petition calling for improved pedestrian safety in Pathum Thani Province. According to police, the motorcyclist crashed into the 54-year-old woman, Lanchakorn Chanklom, while she was walking across a zebra crossing on Rangsit - Pathum Thani Road. The motorcyclist was identified as a university student, who was also injured and has been sent to the hospital. Approximately 14,000 people are killed in road crashes annually in Thailand. Source: Khaosad English |
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Related news: “Over 27,000 road crashes reported in Bangkok last year”
According to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the capital saw over 27,000 road crashes and 262 subsequent deaths last year. Statistics stated that Thailand now ranks second in the list of countries with the highest road traffic deaths worldwide, with 44 deaths per 100,000 people per year. The BMA made known that a majority of drivers failed to comply with traffic regulations which caused most of the crashes. Speeding, overtaking other vehicles and drunk-driving are major factors contributing to the high death toll. The BMA said it will continue to campaign to prevent road crashes, especially in congested areas in the capital. Source: Pattaya Mail |
China |
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Walk Wise project engages 2,000 community members in educational summer activities
A series of educational summer activities took place in Kai County as part of AIP Foundation’s Walk Wise project. Between 9 and 10 July, approximately 700 people came together in Kai County to watch educational videos on road safety. Their focus was on child safety – specifically, how to ensure safe travel to school by bus – as well as lessons learned from previous road incidents in rural Kai County. During the week of 21-24 July, the elderly were engaged via awareness-raising activities on road safety rules. In Yangxing, Ankang, and Fulbou communities, AIP Foundation worked with the Kai County Youth League Committee to set up four mobile billboards at crosswalks near markets frequented by an older population. Throughout the week, volunteers distributed around 1,000 fans to passers-by and observed the behavior of around 2,000 pedestrians. Observations revealed that the outreach positively impacted pedestrian use of zebra crossings. To view more photos, visit our Flick site here. |
Tanzania |
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Legislative meeting held under Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety
A consultative meeting on legislation was held between AIP Foundation and representatives of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety Programme 2015-2019, which was launched in Tanzania this past April. The program works with countries at the national level to review and strengthen road safety legislation, with the aim of reducing fatalities and injuries from road crashes. The main objectives of the meeting were: to identify and consolidate information from recent legislative assessments; to define the scope of future assessments to be conducted by independent bodies; and, to provide information about the program and road safety legislation to potential candidates. Read more about the Bloomberg Initiative here. |
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