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Global Newsletter February 2016

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Dear Friends and Supporters,

The month of February was a time of celebration for the Lunar New Year, but, unfortunately, along with the festivities came a sharp spike in road deaths and injuries. As families took to the road to visit loved ones, increased road traffic created unusually dangerous situations and high risk for motorists. In Vietnam alone, road deaths topped out at 39 per day, along with 48 injuries, representing a significant increase over the figures from 2015.

These tragic circumstances further highlight the increased need for road safety literacy and enforcement of laws.

For more information on this and related road-safety news, please read on.

Kind regards,

Mirjam Sidik
CEO, AIP Foundation

Table of Contents

Global

Photo of the month

Related news: Road safety measures can prevent millions of deaths, injuries

Related news: Hollywood star Yeoh pitches for road safety

Vietnam

General Motors Vietnam donates 1,000 helmets with U.S. Ambassador in attendance

Review workshop reveals first-year results of the National Child Helmet Action Plan

AIP Foundation employee receives graduate degree in Switzerland

Opinion piece: One simple idea at a time: stay on your side in Vietnam

Feature article: VietnamAdvisors calls for investors to help – The Helmet Crisis in Vietnam

Related news: Traffic deaths during Tet peak at 39 a day

Related article: Vietnam’s traffic safety committee sets up Facebook page to welcome feedback

Related news: 2,000 children in Vietnam die in traffic crashes a year, most without helmet

Cambodia

AIP Foundation hosts commune-wide meeting on road safety

Manulife Cambodia's Helmets for Families program delivers road safety knowledge to parents

Related news: Hun Sen highlights politics of road safety

Thailand

Thai DENSO Group donates 628 helmets to students living in dangerous traffic environments

AIP Foundation and Thai DENSO Group host extracurricular activities through Helmets for Kids

Employment Opportunities
Want to join AIP Foundation’s team? View opportunities here.

Global

Photo of the month

Our Communications Intern, Caroline Fischer, submitted this photo after being in the field and experiencing first-hand the dangers that children face when navigating Ho Chi Minh City’s congested roads.

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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Related News: Road safety measures can prevent millions of deaths, injuries
10 February, 2016 – Geneva, Switzerland

The results following a frontal-crash test at the labs of the German motor club ADAC in Landsberg.

The United Nations reports 1.25 million people die in road crashes every year. It says its road safety measures could save millions of lives.

The U.N. Economic Commission for Europe reports road crashes are the number one cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.

The ECE, which regulates and sets road and vehicle safety standards, says another 20 to 50 million people worldwide are injured in these accidents.

Source: Voice of America, 10 February, 2016.

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Related news: Hollywood star Yeoh pitches for road safety
14 February, 2016

Ms. Yeoh is a passionate advocate for road safety in Vietnam and around the globe.

Michelle Yeoh has not lost anyone close to her in a road accident, but she has taken it to her heart to raise awareness on road safety. The cause is so dear to her that the Hollywood actress now champions it out of her own free will and without any money involved.

The Safe Steps Road Safety campaign ambassador said she was in Vietnam with her fiancé Datuk Seri Jean Todt to make a public safety announcement on wearing helmets when she saw motorcycles used as “little cars”. “I think the highest number of people I saw was two parents and four kids on a motorcycle,” said Yeoh at the launch of the road safety campaign here yesterday.

While preparing for the Vietnam event, Yeoh said she was horrified to find out that 1.3 million people died yearly in road accidents worldwide. Statistics also show that 50 million people were injured on the roads every year and 500 children died every day globally just trying to get to school.

Source: The Star Online, 14 February, 2016.

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Vietnam

General Motors Vietnam donates 1,000 helmets with U.S. Ambassador in attendance
2 February, 2016 – Long Bien District, Hanoi

Ai Mo A Primary School children showing off their new helmets.

General Motors Vietnam in partnership with AIP Foundation recently made a generous contribution to the long-term safety of children on Hanoi’s roads. In an event at the Ai Mo A Primary School that featured such prominent guests as U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius and representatives from the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), including its Vice Executive Chairman Dr. Khuat Viet Hung.

This donation by GM Vietnam of 1,000 helmets is part of AIP Foundation’s Helmets for Kids program, which is supported by the NTSC, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the U.S. Embassy Hanoi. Students from the two primary schools involved in the ceremony – one of which is a school for handicapped children – were present along with their parents and teachers, both critical groups in supporting child road safety.

For more information, read the press release here and view photos from the event here.

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Review workshop reveals first-year results of the National Child Helmet Action Plan
24 February, 2016 – Hanoi

National Traffic Safety Committee Vice Executive Chairman Dr. Khuat Viet Hung spoke at the event and indicated his support for a continuation of the NCHAP.

A year-end review of the National Child Helmet Action Plan (NCHAP) organized by the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), National Traffic Police (C67), the Ministry of Education and Training, and AIP Foundation gathered stakeholders to discuss key results after one year of implementation. Attended by 130 participants, the workshop was an opportunity for delegates from national and local government agencies to share their experiences in order to develop a plan for the upcoming year.

The NCHAP launched January 2015 with the goal of significantly increasing child helmet wearing rates in Vietnam. The plan presented an opportunity for governmental bodies at the national and local levels, socio-political organizations, and local authorities to collaborate on planning and monitoring child helmet regulation compliance.

Since the implementation of the plan, from March 2014 to December 2015 in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City, child helmet wearing rates, on average, increased from 36% to 47%. In 12 other project provinces, child helmet use rates, on average, increased from 32% to 52%.

Due in part to these advances, National Traffic Safety Committee Vice Executive Chairman Dr. Khuat Viet Hung, in a speech to the assembled participants, pledged that the NCHAP will be continued in 2016 and subsequent years.

Read the press release here.

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AIP Foundation employee receives graduate degree in Switzerland
January 2016 – Geneva, Switzerland

Ms. Truong presents her research alongside her fellow classmates at the Graduate Institute Geneva.

Congratulations are in order for one of the members of the AIP Foundation community based out of Ho Chi Minh City: Ms. Nguyet Trang Truong, Helmet Safety Program Manager, recently traveled to Switzerland as part of her Executive Master in Development Policies and Practices degree from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva. While in Switzerland in January, Ms. Trang presented her professional thesis project, which was connected to AIP Foundation’s signature Helmets for Kids program, and visited Geneva-based organizations and public institutions to analyze their development policies and practices.

Her research topic was focused on understanding stakeholder participation in promoting child helmet use. She found that road safety education is not positioned as a priority public-health topic in schools. For that reason, schools do not focus on road-safety program activities, and there is particularly weak enforcement of school policy on child helmet-use following the completion of road-safety education and helmet donation. Her research confirmed that the low participation of school stakeholders led to the low helmet-wearing rate among children in Vietnam.

Ms. Trang hopes to apply all she has learned to her current work and to her home country, which will certainly benefit AIP Foundation’s programming in the future. Great job!

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Opinion piece: One simple idea at a time: stay on your side in Vietnam
31 January, 2016

Just one of the many road crashes that occur in Ho Chi Minh City, from January 23, 2016.

The Vietnamese government’s call to reduce traffic deaths by 2020 is an ambitious but worthy goal. Although there has been skepticism on social media – big promises have been made before – it’s still a great idea. There are hundreds of tragedies a day in Vietnam: swimming deaths, tainted water, food or alcohol – you name the disaster, it’s probably happened. It’s depressing, expensive for the nation, and can be changed.

So let’s do just one idea and get everyone to stay on their side of the road.

In its simplest form – not staying on your own side of the road creates chaos and prevents drivers and riders from sticking to a straight line. In its deadliest form – other people pay the physical price for one selfish person’s impulse to just choose the straight line between two points.

Source: Tuoi Tre News, 31 January, 2016.

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Feature article: VietnamAdvisors calls for investors to help – The Helmet Crisis in Vietnam
3 February, 2016

A snapshot of the congestion of Vietnamese roads. Photo credit: Streets of Saigon

Annually, road crashes cause an estimated 22,000 deaths in Vietnam, more than tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS. Approximately 2,000 children die due to road injury each year, making it the second leading cause of death among Vietnamese children ages 5–14.

Road injury costs Vietnam more than 3 billion USD annually, nearly 3% of its GDP.

Though the toll of road crashes outweighs other public health issues, such as HIV/AIDS, which took 14,000 Vietnamese lives in 2009, international development assistance for road injury prevention from 2011 to 2012 is estimated at only 2 million USD. By comparison, the Global Fund, which channels 20% of total aid for HIV/AIDS, provided a 2011-2012 grant of 49 million USD to the Ministry of Health to support HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

Motorcycles account for 95% of registered vehicles in Vietnam, and their users account for 75% of Vietnam’s road traffic fatalities. Of these, nearly 78% are a result of head injury. In 2006, motorcycle helmet use in Vietnam was less than 30% on average and 10% on city roads. Helmet use tended to be higher on roads where use was compulsory. After the enactment of Resolution 32 in December 2007, helmet use immediately increased to 99%.

Source: Vietnam Advisors, 3 February, 2016.

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Related news: Traffic deaths during Tet peak at 39 a day
12 February, 2016

A woman takes care of a family member injured from a road crash at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Traffic casualties have kept rising during the Tet Lunar New Year to 39 deaths and 48 people injured on Thursday, raising the total deaths during the first six days of the holiday to 162. A report from the Traffic Police Department at the Ministry of Public Security said the number of dead victims on Thursday, which was the fourth day of the new lunar year, increased from 37 on Wednesday, 20 on Tuesday, and 21 on Monday, mostly due to road crashes. The number was also far more than the average traffic deaths of 24 a day reported in 2015.

Source: Thanh Nien News, 12 February, 2016.

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Related article: Vietnam’s traffic safety committee sets up Facebook page to welcome feedback
23 February, 2016

A screenshot of the National Traffic Safety Committee’s Facebook page.

Traffic authorities in Vietnam have encouraged a social media frenzy as the National Traffic Safety Committee announced on Monday that the public can now access their official Facebook page for reports and feedback, following a similar move by Ho Chi Minh City's transport department.

The page can be reached at www.facebook.com/ntscvietnam, says Nguyen Trong Thai, chief of office at the National Traffic Safety Committee.

The Facebook page is aimed to be a medium of communication with the people where their proposals and suggestions on matters such as road accidents and traffic congestion are heard to help create a more cultured traffic environment on a national level.

Updates on directive documents on traffic safety by the government, or new regulations and policies, will also be posted on the committee’s Facebook page.

Source: Tuoi Tre News, 23 February, 2016.

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Related news: 2,000 children in Vietnam die in traffic crashes a year, most without helmet
25 February, 2016

These young girls run a serious risk of injury by not wearing their helmets in the busy Vietnam traffic.

About 2,000 children die in road traffic crashes every year in Vietnam, and most of them do not wear a helmet, according to new data released by the Traffic Police Department. The helmet law has not been policed effectively in many localities, leading to the high number of child fatalities, Do Thanh Binh, the department's deputy director, said at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday. A recent report by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation showed that the percentage of children wearing helmets on local streets increased from 36% to 68% during an eight-month campaign that promoted awareness and strengthened surveillance last year.

Source: Thanh Nien News, 25 February, 2016.

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Cambodia

AIP Foundation hosts commune-wide meeting on road safety
12 February, 2016 – Phnom Penh

Commune members meet to discuss road safety initiatives.

AIP Foundation organized its third commune-wide meeting in Chbar Ampov District, Phnom Penh, which was attended by 37 participants. The meeting was held to encourage community member to participate in AIP Foundation’s “Commune of Excellence in Helmet Use” competition, which aims to encourage increased helmet use and road safety among communes through innovation, joint activities, and partnerships.

The meeting was also an opportunity for attendees to discuss road safety issues and 2016 plans for increased helmet use within their commune. Attendees included traffic police and public order offices, private sector stakeholders, transportation and education officers, youth, and sport and road safety working group members.

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Manulife Cambodia's Helmets for Families program delivers road safety knowledge to parents
19 February, 2016 – Phnom Penh

Parents learn about road safety and how to protect their children at a Helmets for Families event.

On February 19th, Manulife Cambodia, in association with AIP Foundation, sponsored road safety activities at Sothearos Primary School in Phnom Penh as part of the Helmets for Families initiative.

This follows a donation ceremony in December of 2015 at which Manulife provided 804 helmets to students, teachers, and parents. The ceremony was accompanied by workshops aimed at teaching parents proper helmet use and the importance of helmets for themselves and their children.

By coupling the ceremony with the workshops, AIP Foundation was able to reinforce the central role of helmets in road safety and encourage their consistent and proper use – a timely message given the Lunar New Year celebrations, when road crashes are frequent.

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Related news: Hun Sen highlights politics of road safety
3 February, 2016 – Phnom Penh

Road conditions in Phnom Penh can best be described as chaotic and nerve-wracking. Credit: Getty Images

Driving in Cambodia's capital can be a scary experience.

Motorbikes dart out from side streets, moving between and around large sport utility vehicles that zoom down the main boulevards -- sometimes at alarming speeds if traffic allows.
"I think only 30% of my friends have a driving license," said Po Soknith, a 21-year-old university student who works part-time in a cafe between classes, on a recent afternoon in Phnom Penh.
That, and the wild driving, will not change any time soon – despite Cambodia's steady push to modernize.

Widespread confusion over new traffic laws implemented by the Cambodian government this year has led Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene with new rules of his own, making the country's notorious roads even more dangerous, according to critics.

Source: Nikkei Asian Review, 3 February, 2016.

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Thailand

Thai DENSO Group donates 628 helmets to students living in dangerous traffic environments
15 January, 2016 – Udon Thani Province

Schoolchildren enact a road safety skit during the kick-off Ceremony at Baan Na Kham Luang School.

DENSO, an automotive components manufacturing company, donated 628 high-quality helmets to students of six different schools in the Udon Thani Province in Thailand. These schools were selected based on their locations along busy highways with high densities of large vehicles and trucks in an effort to align with the aims of AIP Foundation’s Helmets for Kids program, which endeavors to protect the most vulnerable children from road crashes.

Seven hundred students and teachers were in attendance alongside numerous AIP Foundation representatives and local community leaders, including such key members of this initiative as Pinai Sirinakorn, Vice President of Thai DENSO Group and DENSO International Asia Co., LTD, and Chaiyavoot Jarntorn, the Governor of Udon Thani Province.

At the event, students learned how to properly wear their helmets and engaged in educational road safety activities to teach them the importance of safe road behavior in a creative and stimulating way.

For more information, read the press release here, and view photos from the ceremony here.

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AIP Foundation and Thai DENSO Group host extracurricular activities through Helmets for Kids
16-18 February, 2016 – Udon Thani Province

Students proudly display their artwork after completing road safety activities.

AIP Foundation with Thai DENSO Group held extracurricular activities for Helmets for Kids project schools from the 16 – 18th of February, 2016, at Baan Na Kham Luang School, Baan Men School, Baan Nong Nok Kian School, Nongsamrong Wittaya School, Chumchon Nakwang School, and Chum Chon Moo Mon Wittayasan School, respectively.

The activities focused on strengthening the knowledge of road safety and proper helmet wear among the 628 students who were given helmets as part of a donation ceremony last month. These activities help maintain and improve helmet use rates and keep students and their parents engaged in road safety throughout the year.

Browse photos from the event here.

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