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Global Newsletter January-February 2017 |
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Dear Friends and Supporters, In February, we launched our 2016 Annual Report, which highlights the life-saving road safety programs we’ve implemented across our four program countries. In the 2015-2016 school year, our school-based activities served more than 370,000 beneficiaries. Across all our program countries last year, our community billboards reached more than 1.1 million people. Looking back on our reach in 2016 has pushed us to innovate even more exciting road safety work in 2017. In Thailand, our team has been conducting baseline research as part of the second phase of our Street Wise program. The road safety program is expanding to five new schools in Songkhla Province with the renewed support of Chevron. In January, we held the kick-off ceremony for our Helmets for Families program in Ho Chi Minh City. The helmet education program, supported by Abbott, is concentrating its work at four schools in a low-income, agricultural district of the city, as well as at two in Hanoi. This year has already kicked-off to a busy start. I am confident that we will be able to make even greater strides in 2017 with the support of partners like you. Kind regards, Mirjam Sidik
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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 – Volunteers make road safety fun
Volunteers from Abbott teach students about the importance of wearing helmets during the Helmets for Families handover ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoc Mon District. |
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AIP Foundation publishes Annual Report, reflects on 2016's progress toward saving lives
In 2016, we celebrated our 17th year of saving lives in low- and middle-income countries. Our diverse programs - ranging from developing truck driving trainings and educating children, to empowering the media and advocating local governments - spanned four countries. We distributed 17,444 quality helmets during the 2015-2016 school year, and worked with more than 370,000 students, teachers, and parents. Across all our program countries last year, our community billboards reached more than 1.1 million people. Our staff - who work at our offices in Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam - collaborated with fellow industry experts at international conferences and meetings in nine countries. Our mass media campaign in Cambodia received two honors at the International Safety Media Awards in Finland. And, our social enterprise helmet factory, Protec, celebrated its 15th anniversary. The Hanoi-based operation has produced nearly 6.5 million quality helmets since its inception. But, that's not all we were able to accomplish. Read our freshly published 2016 Annual Report for more on our progress toward reducing road crash deaths and injuries in some of the world's most at-risk communities. Watch this special thank you video from some of our program beneficiaries. |
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Related news: Ten years on: Make Roads Safe, redux
Source: FIA Foundation, 13 February, 2017 Road traffic crashes still claim more than 1.2 million lives every year, and political commitment and financial resourcing for road safety is failing to match the scale of the epidemic. Urgent action, including the establishment of a properly resourced UN Fund to catalyse regional and country level injury reduction strategies, is needed now more than ever. Make Roads Safe: Action on Global Road Traffic Injuries highlights the continuing global road traffic injury crisis and calls for greater political commitment and international funding commensurate to the scale of the epidemic. Published to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Make Roads Safe petition campaign in 2007, which eventually led to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, this booklet describes priority interventions proven to reduce casualties, calls for new donors to the cause, and sets out the key advocacy initiatives that are now, in 2017, building on the legacy of the Make Roads Safe campaign. Read more background via FIA Foundation here. Read the full report here. |
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Related news: Taking Innovation to the Streets – DIV Support for Breakthroughs in Road Safety
Source: USAID-DIV, 13 February, 2017 Road crashes are a top killer around the world, especially in developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that 90% of road-related fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries each year. Beyond being a major public health concern, high rates of road accidents are an economic drain on nations. Road accidents are the leading cause of death among young adults ages 15 to 29 and can cost developing economies up to 5% of GDP each year. Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) supports new, innovative ways to reduce road injuries and fatalities that are backed by rigorous evidence and cost-effective. AIP Foundation - a DIV portfolio organization - uses behavior change for road safety. Building on its successful work in Vietnam, AIP Foundation advocated for the adoption and enforcement of a passenger helmet law in Cambodia. They adopted a multi-pronged approach to increase helmet use: working through mass media, schools, and targeted communities to distribute helmets and increase awareness and adherence to the new law as well as strengthening the capacity of traffic police to development enforcement plans. A DIV Stage 2 grant provided support for data collection and analysis of AIP Foundation’s intervention. The organization conducted an observational study in schools and found a substantial increase in helmet use from less than 1% to 75% among child passengers in the 18 intervention schools compared to less than 1% to 4% in the control schools. Additionally, Handicap International (HI), a research partner of AIP Foundation’s intervention, conducted street-based helmet observations in three provinces and found helmet use among child passengers increased from 6.5% to 22.5% in intervention provinces, compared to 5.7% to 18.2% in control areas. Read the full article here. |
Vietnam |
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New data reveals increase in students' safe road behaviors after two years of pedestrian safety program
AIP Foundation, operating as Safe Kids Vietnam, presented new results from the 2014-2016 implementation of Walk This Way in District 9 of Ho Chi Minh City, which show an increase in students' safe pedestrian behaviors. The percentage of students crossing the road using a pedestrian crosswalk increased from 48.9% at baseline to 81.2% in 2016. There was also a significant jump in students using sidewalks, with an increase from 65% to 99.1%. In addition to reviewing the successes from the past two years, the meeting attendees discussed challenges faced and recommendations for future activities. The Vice Chairman of the District 9 People's Committee committed to maintaining the program as well. Walk This Way, supported by FedEx, launched in 2009. Over the next four years, the program will focus on serving schools affected by construction of Ho Chi Minh City's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. |
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Parents from agricultural district educated on helmet safety
AIP Foundation staff educated parents of students at four elementary schools in a primarily low-income and agricultural district of Ho Chi Minh City on helmet safety. The training session was part of Abbott's Helmets for Families program. Attendees were taught the three-steps to properly wearing a motorcycle helmet and were informed about an upcoming helmet exchange program, which will allow 150 parents to swap their sub-standard helmets for quality ones at a subsidized cost. This school year, Helmets for Families has provided 5,600 donated and subsidized helmets to schools in Hoc Mon District. In the past, the program has also worked in Tra Vinh Province and Hanoi. |
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Road safety program provides low-income and agricultural families with 5,600 helmets
Helmets for Families, supported by Abbott, is expanding its road safety education to four new schools in the Hoc Mon District of Ho Chi Minh City, a suburban and agricultural zone where up to 90% of the participating students’ parents are manual laborers. This year, Helmets for Families will continue its work toward increasing road safety literacy and safe behaviors amongst Vietnamese families by distributing more than 4,700 high quality helmets to students and teachers, and exchanging nearly 900 subsidized helmets to parents in Hoc Mon District and at two schools in Hanoi. The program hosted its 2016-2017 school year kick-off event at Nhi Xuan Primary School in the Hoc Mon District. Nearly 1,000 students, teachers, and parents attended the ceremony. They were joined by representatives from Abbott, as well as officials from the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee, Department of Education and Training, Traffic Police, and local authorities. A pre-project survey revealed that 76.3% of the students at program schools in Hoc Mon District commute to and from school by riding on their parents’ motorcycles. The average student helmet-wearing rate at these schools is about 30%, well below the Ho Chi Minh City average of 48%. Only 1.3% of parents surveyed had the correct knowledge of what makes a high quality helmet. View more photos from the kick-off event here. Read the full press release here. |
Cambodia |
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Regional financial institution provides nearly 100 students in Phnom Penh with life-saving helmets
Hong Leong Bank Cambodia Plc. teamed up with AIP Foundation and #SaveKidsLives to provide nearly 100 grade 1 and 2 students with life-saving helmets. The handover ceremony took place at Anuk Wat Primary School in Phnom Penh. During the event, the students participated in educational activities about how to follow traffic rules and learned about the importance of wearing their new helmets. "Providing safety helmets to these kids is our way of showing our commitment in protecting the future generation of Cambodia," Mr. Joseph Farrugia, CEO of Hong Leong Bank Cambodia Plc., said. The #SaveKidsLives campaign was launched in the lead-up to the Third United Nations Global Road Safety Week in May 2015. It calls for global action to help halve road deaths and injuries by 2020, and has also been involved in advocacy efforts securing road safety's place in the Sustainable Development Goals. |
Thailand |
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Street Wise team conducts baseline observations at five new program schools
As part of Phase II of Street Wise, a team, led by road safety auditor Dr. Rodjana Khoonpoon, conducted baseline observations at five new program schools in the Singhanakhon District of Thailand's Songkhla Province. Dr. Khoonpoon is a member of the Faculty of Engineering at Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. The team observed student and parent helmet use, as well as pedestrian behaviors, and also conducted student knowledge tests. AIP Foundation and Chevron launched Street Wise in the province in 2014 to provide students with quality helmet and pedestrian safety education. Thailand's roads are some of the deadliest in the world, with 24,237 estimated road crash fatalities in 2015. |
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Legal professionals meet with foreign diplomats to discuss road safety in Thailand
Members of the Legal Development Program (LDP) and AIP Foundation staff convened with representatives from foreign embassies in Bangkok to discuss 2- and 3-wheel vehicle safety issues in Thailand. Diplomats hailed from countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Representatives from the World Health Organization Thailand and Thai PBS also attended the meeting. The group explored strategies for how they can collaborate to reduce the number of road crash-related deaths and injuries in the country. The LDP is supported by the World Health Organization and the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety. |
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AIP Foundation recognized by Save the Children for its contributions to
The 7% Project
AIP Foundation was recognized at an event organized by Save the Children for its commitment to the child-focused road safety program, The 7% Project. Oratai Junsuwanaruk, Thailand Country Manager of AIP Foundation, joined partner organizations including the Road Accident Victims Protection Company Limited, Tesco Lotus, Road Safety Group Thailand, Marriott, and the Bangkok Primary Educational Service Area Office, at “The 7% Project: Celebrate Your Achievements" in Bangkok. Notable guests included Pranee Sattayaprakop, Permanent Secretary for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and Saul Billingsley, Executive Director of FIA Foundation. AIP Foundation and Save the Children launched The 7% Project because despite the fact 1.3 million children in Thailand travel as motorcycle passengers every day, only 7% wear helmets. More than 2,600 children die annually on the country's roads and another 72,680 are injured or disabled. |
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Chevron announces renewed support of
Street Wise, key stakeholders strategize next steps for Phase 2
Chevron announced its continued support of Phase 2 of AIP Foundation's Street Wise program, which will expand its road safety work in Songkhla Province to five more schools. The announcement was made during the opening ceremony of the Songkhla Shore Base and Warehouse in Singhanakhon District. Prior to the event, principals and teachers from Street Wise Phase 1 schools met with those from Phase 2 schools during a collaborative workshop. They discussed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the program, in order to brainstorm ways to integrate the road safety curriculum into the national education standards. Street Wise now works with nine schools in Singhanakhon District and one in Muang District. In preparation of the new activities, the nonprofit's team also collaborated with provincial government officials to map out the future of the Street Wise program. Ratanawadee Hemnithi Winther, Thailand Chairperson, and Oratai Junsuwanaruk, Thailand Country Manager, met with representatives including the Deputy Governor of Songkhla Province, the Mayor of the Singhanakorn District, and the Deputy of Songkhla Primary Educational Service Area Office 1. AIP Foundation and Chevron launched Street Wise in 2014. Over the first two years, helmet-wearing rates at program schools increased from 3% to 38%. View more photos of the event here. |
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Organic rice distributor brings road safety education to more than 10,000 community members
An organic rice distributor launched a Helmets for Kids program at Thairath Wittaya 5 School that will provide road safety education to more than 10,000 students, teachers, parents, and community members. The Natural Growth Co., Ltd., will also provide 500 quality helmets to beneficiaries. Many of the organic rice distributors’ farmers are members of the Muang Lap Lae Agricultural Cooperation and their children attend Thairath Wittaya 5 School. During the kick-off ceremony students gave road safety-themed performances, and also participated in a helmet wearing demonstration and hand-over ceremony. Representatives from AIP Foundation and the school spoke during the event. Honored guests were presented with certificates of appreciation. Prior to the kick-off ceremony, AIP Foundation staff hosted meetings with parents and stakeholders. They also administered student trainings. Thairath Wittaya 5 School is located in Uttaradit Province in northern Thailand, a rural area that borders Laos. The school is funded by the Thairath Foundation, which is associated with oldest Thai newspaper in the country and boasts a daily circulation of more than 1 million. View more photos from the event here. View more photos from the pre-event trainings here. Read the full press release here. |
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Related news: Life and death on Thailand's lethal roads
Source: BBC News, 19 January, 2017 There is a ritual that is now very familiar to Thais, before the two big holiday seasons of the year, in late December for the new year, and in April for the Songkran Festival. The government will set a target for reducing fatalities on Thailand's notoriously dangerous roads, exhorting Thais not to speed, or drink and drive. Sometimes good citizens will run publicity stunts, like the coffin-maker, who last year invited journalists to film the huge stockpile his workers were building up for the holiday season. And every year these efforts fail. "Enforcement is the key", says Ratana Winther, Thailand Chairperson of AIP Foundation. "But that is not just about telling the police to enforce the law. The police should be told to prioritise traffic policing over traffic management. "But it is a multi-sectoral challenge. The punishment needs to be big enough for people to be afraid of it. And the safety campaigns must be continuous, not just at peak seasons. Then we need to move on to issues like improving the engineering of roads." Read the full article here. |
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Related news: Road safety is our right, not a privilege
Source: Bangkok Post, 5 January, 2017 This opinion piece penned by AIP Foundation's Thailand Chairperson, Ratanawadee Winther, was recently featured in the Bangkok Post. Have you ever wondered why after years of efforts, Thailand has barely made a dent in reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries? With 66 people killed every day on Thai roads, we are only second behind war-torn Libya in annual road traffic deaths. It is no accident either that we've ended up here and yet -- why aren't we more upset? The reason is simple. Most of us who are in charge of making our roads safer for all -- do not know what it feels like to be a pedestrian or a rider or passenger of a motorcycle. We blame vulnerable road users for not wearing helmets, for not knowing road rules and for crossing our paths. But have we ever asked ourselves why this is happening? Keeping people safe should be a priority and we need a system that recognizes that road safety is a right that belongs to everyone. Rich or poor, we should be able to feel safe when we cross the street, take our kids to school or go out. Read the full article here. |
China |
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Road safety program in mountainous region of China reaches more than 300,000 community members
Throughout 2016, Walk Wise, supported by Chevron, worked with more than 175,000 students, teachers, parents, and community members in China’s Kaizhou District. The mountainous region has many roads that are steep, narrow, and windy, exposing children at heightened risks as they commute to and from school. In total, the program served 84 schools through educational and capacity building activities. Watch this interview with Junrong, a grade 3 student, and this one with Feng, a teacher, to get an inside glimpse of Walk Wise at work. |
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