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Global Newsletter January 2016 |
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Dear Friends and Supporters, Happy New Year! We have had a productive start to 2016 with several activities laying the foundation for upcoming projects. In Vietnam, a road safety night raised awareness among residents of a high-risk community; in Thailand, we celebrated National Children’s Day with educational road safety games; and billboards spreading an important road safety message debuted in project schools in China. We are excited for the upcoming year and expect to make progress towards making roads safe in the coming months. With the Lunar New Year approaching, we’d like to wish you and your families a year of good fortune, health, and happiness! Please read on to find out more about AIP Foundation’s activities and achievements this month. 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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Employment Opportunities
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Global |
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Photo of the month
Have a relevant road safety photo? Tag AIP Foundation on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram (@makingroadssafe) for a chance to have your photo featured here! |
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FIA Foundation publishes their 2015 Annual Report
FIA Foundation's Annual Report 2015 titled, “Goals for Change, Partners for Action” highlights the charity's work and achievements and lays out strategic objectives for 2016 and beyond--to build on the inclusion of transport targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. Download the FIA Foundation 2015 Annual Report here. |
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Pope Francis signs the Child Declaration for Road Safety
Fifty million people are injured on the road every year, and 1.5 million die. Every day, 500 kids are killed, and 20,000 are injured. These are some of the statistics that representatives from the United Nations shared with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican. They came to build support for global road safety initiatives. The Pope posed with a sign that read #SaveKidsLives and took photos with the group. The support from the Pope adds incredible momentum to the #SaveKidsLives campaign as it moves into its next phase of operations into the 'action phase' that is set to kick off during 2016. Read the full article here. |
Vietnam |
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Review workshop reveals helmet use increase in Ha Tinh
AIP Foundation held a Helmets for Kids review workshop to discuss the challenges and successes of the program at project schools for the 2015 year. More than 80 people attended the workshop including school teachers, parents and representatives from the Ha Tinh Traffic Safety Committee, the Ha Tinh Department of Education and Training, the school Board of Management, Ha Tinh television channel, Ha Tinh newspaper, and AIP Foundation. Results from the year were presented with the helmet wearing rate in Ha Tinh reaching 86%. Suggestions to improve the project in the coming year included organizing more extra-curricular activities for student and parent engagement and to raise awareness of the importance of child helmet use to the surrounding community. Watch the video (Vietnamese) here. |
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Related news: One dead, two injured, including a 2-year-old child in motorcycle crash
A woman died and two people were injured, including a 2-year-old child, when a motorcycle crashed with a tipper lorry in Thu Dau Mot City, southern Binh Duong Province. The incident came following a report by the National Committee on Traffic Safety yesterday announcing that traffic accidents claimed 65 deaths and injured 94 people in the last three days. Read the full article here. |
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Related news: Road crashes kill 104 during holiday weekend in Vietnam
Vietnam recorded a high number of traffic deaths over the extended holiday weekend, with 104 dead and 135 injured, a government agency said late Sunday. During the four-day Gregorian New Year holiday, the number of incidents rose to 209 from 192 cases reported in the same period last year, the National Traffic Safety Committee said in a report. On 4 January alone, 48 traffic crashes happened across the country, killing 22 people and injuring 38 others. According to the report, an overwhelming majority of road crashes were caused by motorcyclists who breached traffic rules—causing 208 crashes with 103 killed and 135 injured. Read the full article here. |
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Road Safety Night helps industrial zone residents stay safe on dangerous roads
Under the Nghi Son Refinery and Petroleum project in Tinh Gia District of Thanh Hoa Province, AIP Foundation held a successful Road Safety Night. The aim of the event was to raise awareness among residents of high risk traffic zones on the importance of road safety. Attended by more than 700 participants, the event received good feedback from participants and created an open forum for citizens to discuss, learn, and gain road safety skills. |
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Related news: Vietnamese drivers lack road safety awareness
"Traffic awareness of local people is too low," said Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, Deputy Head of the Municipal Traffic Safety Committee at a three-year review meeting organized by the Ho Chi Minh’s Party Committee late last week. In the 2012-2015 period, 2.4 million tickets were handed out for traffic violations, including 184,300 for people who violated the speed limit, 117,000 for driving on a one-way street or running a red light, 79,000 for driving while drinking, 200,000 for driving without a helmet, and 28,300 for driving with overloaded weight on motorbikes or vehicles. Twenty percent of road crashes were caused by technical failure and poor infrastructure. "The city has nearly 7.5 million personal vehicles, 1.5 times higher than three years ago and every day, there are around 10 million vehicles, including those from outside the city, circulating in Ho Chi Minh City," said Bui Xuan Cuong, Director of the Municipal Transport Department. Read the full article here. |
Cambodia |
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Supported by The UPS Foundation, Communes encouraged to become road safety role models
The “Commune of Excellence in Helmet Use” competition launched this month in Cambodia to encourage increased helmet use and road safety among communes. With guidance from AIP Foundation under the “Head Safe. Helmet On.” project, communes are encouraged to use innovation, joint activities, and partnerships during the competition. Supported by The UPS Foundation, the competition strives to make each of the project’s 18 target communes safer with knowledgeable road users. For more information, read the press release. To view photos of the event click here. |
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Related news: New law to address the high death toll on Cambodia’s roads
A new traffic law came into force on 1 January—it is hoped to reduce the number of people killed on Cambodia’s roads each year. Road crashes cost the economy an estimated $300 million annually, and the death toll from these crashes keeps rising. According to figures from the Ministry of Interior, some 2,265 people died in traffic accidents in 2015, an increase from 2,148 road deaths in 2014. Kim Pagna, AIP Foundation Cambodia Country Director, said that tackling the country’s dire road safety situation was hugely important, since road crashes kill more people in Cambodia than dengue fever, malaria, and landmines combined. “But this horrendous record is avoidable,” he said, “More than 70% of the people who died in road crashes were on motorcycles. More than 60% died because of head injuries.” To read the full article, click here. |
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Related News: Traffic police deployed en masse as law debuts
Cambodia’s new Traffic Law came into effect on 1 January, with more than 7,000 vehicles pulled over on the first day of enforcement across the country for various violations, according to police. The law includes harsher penalties for offenses such as speeding and drunk driving, limits motorcycle passengers to one adult and one child, and requires all passengers to wear helmets. While a noticeably higher proportion of motorcycle passengers were wearing helmets on the busy streets of central Phnom Penh on 1 January, deputy National Police commissioner Him Yan said officers stationed along major highways and city streets stopped 7,519 vehicles nationwide—two-thirds of them motorcycles. “We educated the drivers of 4,543 motorcycles and fined 2,925 drivers of all types of vehicles,” Lieutenant General Yan said during a press conference at the National Police headquarters. To read the full article, click here. |
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Related news: Experts urge government to keep traffic law strict
Seven NGOs met on Wednesday to is¬sue a statement urging the government not to water down the new traffic law in the face of public criticism and to call for their inclusion in two government working groups created at the behest of Prime Minister Hun Sen to consider changes to the law. During an event in Phnom Penh, the organizations working on road safety in the county called for the “stringent enforcement” of the new Land Traffic Law, which came into effect on January 1. Since then, Mr. Hun Sen has personally amended the law in re¬sponse to public outrage and complaints made on his Facebook page. Within a week of the law being implemented, the prime minister said that those driving motorcycles with engines smaller than 125cc would not need a driver’s licenses. Chanpha Khun, Behavior Change Communications Manager at AIP Foundation, one of the NGOs at the event, read out the statement, which encouraged a more scientific approach to policy change. “Policy that benefits the public in¬terest must ultimately rely on sound evidence and data, not merely public opinion,” she said, according to a transcript of the statement in English. “In a country where 73% of road deaths are motorcycle riders, the government should retain the license provision for 125cc motorcycle riders,” Ms. Khun said. Read the full article here. |
Thailand |
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Street Wise, sponsored by Chevron, celebrates Thailand National Children's Day
AIP Foundation was invited to join the National Children's Day celebration with Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd. on 9 January at Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya Songkhla. AIP Foundation staff and volunteers from Chevron participated in activities on road safety along with 5,000 children and their parents. The activities aimed to educate participants on road safety, traffic signs, and proper helmet use. |
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DENSO sponsors helmet use training for 628 students and teachers
AIP Foundation, with DENSO’s support, held student and teacher trainings for Helmets for Kids this month at Baan Na Kham Luang School, Chumchon Nakwang School, Chum Chon Moo Mon Wittayasan School, Baan Men School, Nongsamrong Wittaya School, and Baan Nong Nok Kian School. The training aimed to teach 628 students, to which helmets were donated, how to properly wear and maintain their helmets. |
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Related news: First day road safety campaign claims 39 deaths
Thai transport authorities kicked off a weeklong campaign to reduce highway crashes during the New Year festival. The week long campaign dubbed “the seven dangerous days” ran from December 31st, 2015 until January 5, 2016. In the first day of the campaign, 439 road crashes were reported nationwide, with 39 people dead and 456 injured. Drunk driving is blamed for the main cause of most fatal accidents, or 27%, with speeding causing approximately 20%. Motorcycles were the most common vehicle engaged in fatal accidents at 89%. Click here to read more. |
China |
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Walk Wise, sponsored by Chevron, installs 25 billboards to spread road safety message
Walk Wise installed 25 billboards in 20 project schools in order to deliver important road safety messages to communities. The billboards delivers the message "Slow down for kids, school ahead." to the community around the school. Many community members, including parents of students from our project schools, will see the billboards that highlight the importance of child safety and encourage road safety advocacy. |
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