GRSP joins the Child Health Initiative
Every child deserves a safe and healthy journey to and from school, yet every day more than 3000 children and adolescents suffer a road traffic death or serious injury. The health burden to children caused by motorised traffic constitutes a major obstacle to child development and an unacceptable and preventable human tragedy.
The Child Health Initiative is a coalition of organizations and agencies coming together to advocate and work towards the vision of every child enjoying a safe journey to and from school becoming a reality by 2030.
As a global contributor to child road safety through the GRSP Advocacy and Grants programme and the widely replicated ‘Safe to School – Safe to Home’ intervention, GRSP is very proud to join the coalition and announce membership of the Child Health Initiative.
GRSP took the opportunity to announce its new membership at the FIA Foundation’s prestigious ‘Every Journey, Every Child’ conference held in London on the 4th and 5th of October. The conference was attended by a host of influential international organizations and global experts in child health including GRSP members Save the Children and the World Health Organization. Also in attendance were the mayors of London and Accra, Mr Sadiq Khan and Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah respectively.
In his keynote address at the event, Mayor of London Mr Khan threw down a challenge to those in the room and beyond: “Worldwide, these fundamental children’s rights are being violated every single day. Put simply, as we send our children out on their daily journey to school we are risking their lives. They are trying to access education and we are killing them – with toxic pollution, with dangerous traffic. In the 21st century this cannot be allowed to happen. We have the solutions, we can save lives on our streets. Our leaders must step up and act. For every child, for every life.”.
See more on the Child Health Initiative here: https://www.childhealthinitiative.org/
