GRSP to launch new ‘Safe to School – Safe to Home’ project in Vietnam
What could be worse than a child leaving home for school one morning, full of the promise of learning and interaction with friends, only to return home seriously injured, or worse, not returning home at all? Sadly, in Vietnam, as well as in many other countries around the world, child road traffic injuries are a serious public health problem, and road safety issues, particularly in areas frequented by school-aged children, are often not specifically addressed.
April saw GRSP take clear and decisive action towards the introduction of its all new ‘Safe to School – Safe to Home’ project in Ha Nam province in Vietnam. During a meeting with key stakeholders including high level representatives from the Provincial Department of Transport, Ha Nam Provincial Department of Education and Training, the Provincial Traffic Police, Ha Nam Transport Construction and Assembly Consultant Company and local media, participants lent their support to the project and contributed to the project plan.
The project, operating under the auspices of the GRSP administered Global Road Safety Initiative, the world’s largest private sector road safety collaboration funded by Michelin, Renault, Shell, Total and Toyota, will map the traffic conditions impacting the walking routes for school children of three schools in the districts of Duy Tien and Thanh Lien. Following assessment of the mapping exercise and working through a multi-sectoral partnership, key stakeholders will develop and implement safety workshops for teachers, educational activities for children, involve law enforcement and also seek to improve the physical infrastructure around target schools.
In parallel with this project, a ‘Safe to School – Safe to Home’ Good Practice Manual is being developed to take the project beyond the pilot schools and help improve safety for children around schools throughout the region.
The offical launch ceremony for the project will take place on 13 June, 2013. Through our news section and newsletters, we will keep you informed with progress on this important community project.
