Dear Friends and Supporters,
As students and teachers busily prepare to go back to school around the world, there is a sense of urgency for all.
Some students are able to travel safely to school with their families, while other students are still at risk when going to and from school. In one of our focus countries, Vietnam, millions of students are facing high speeds around school zones that alarmingly exceed international recommendations.
To safeguard the lives of young students on their journeys to school across Vietnam, the government and AIP Foundation have collaborated to develop the
Safe School Zones Guide (SSZ Guide) with support from the FIA Foundation. As a part of this program, a technical workshop was held with key government partners in Hanoi, Vietnam, to receive a second round of feedback from national and international stakeholders. The
SSZ Guide will be scaled up to build the evidence base to support legislation establishing a legal school zone definition in Vietnam.
The goals of the
SSZ Guide are directly aligned with the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the Sustainable Development Goals Summit around the corner this month, our time for action to achieve safe school journeys for students is now.
Since the SDGs launched in 2015, we are now halfway to 2030. As published by the UN earlier in July, only 12% of SDG targets are currently on track, according to a preliminary assessment of roughly 140 targets for which data is available. We have a huge task ahead of us, but we know it is possible. Only together can we achieve the 2030 Agenda.
At both the Sustainable Development Goals Summit this month and the Global Forum for Adolescents in October, we must raise our voices louder than ever before to fight for green, healthy, and livable communities for all.
Join us, and please read on.
Sincerely,
Mirjam Sidik
CEO, AIP Foundation
