RS-10: Laying the foundation for success
In the words of French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “ a goal without a plan is just a wish.” But this is not a phrase that needs to be explained to the Global Road Safety Partnership team supporting the project, Road Safety in 10 Countries (RS-10), funded with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
For the Partnership, setting achievable goals for 2012 has been a main focus this past month. From Brazil to Viet Nam, over the next ten months the Partnership will build the capacity of stakeholders, particularly traffic police, in order to implement evidence-based road safety interventions around risk factors such as helmet wearing, speeding, seat belt wearing and drink driving. The team will also manage a small-grants programme to support NGOs in advocacy work as well as well as shape advocacy efforts with selected Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies.
Under these three programme areas (capacity building, small-grants programme for NGOs, supporting National Societies) the Partnership will carry out a number of specific tasks in 2012 for RS-10. Specific highlights will include rapid training needs-assessments, expansion of the already-existing library of risk-factor resources, and building the capacity of traffic police with more than 80 risk-factor workshops and mentoring activities globally. The first “train-the-trainer” workshop will be held in Geneva from the 21 – 23 March with senior traffic police trainers from around the world attending.
The small-grants programme will support a small number of NGOs in the RS10 countries to advocate for policy changes, and close gaps in legislative framework that puts road users at risk of death and serious injury. Momentum with the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement will also continue from 2011, as the Partnership will help shape advocacy efforts with selected Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, by using their status as auxiliaries to public authorities in the humanitarian field and humanitarian diplomacy skills.
“We are very excited about partnering with several National Societies for our road safety advocacy project,” explained Ryan Duly, the Partnership’s road safety advocacy coordinator. “It is a great opportunity for us, as well as the National Societies, and we will work together to leverage their auxiliary status and advocate for stronger road safety legislation and policies in their respective countries.”
For more information about the RS10 project contact Gayle DiPietro at gayle.dipietro@ifrc.org
About the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program
Each year, 1.3 million people die from road traffic crashes. An additional 20-50 million people suffer severe, often permanently debilitating injuries. The Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program, a five-year, $125 million effort to reverse global deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes, is focusing on ten low- and middle-income countries that account for about half of all road deaths. Program partners are supporting countries to strengthen and implement proven solutions through key legislation on motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, drinking and driving, and speed; improving sustainable urban transport; incorporating safety in road infrastructure projects; and, monitoring and evaluating traffic-related deaths, injuries and policy effectiveness. For more information, please visit www.mikebloomberg.com and follow us on Twitter @BloombergDotOrg
Photo credit: Flickr / Beijing traffic police
