Sesame Street’s Grover on mission to make world’s roads safe for children & their families
The Global Road Safety Partnership, FIA Foundation and Sesame Street Team Up to Launch Global Road Safety Campaign
Buckle up, put on your helmet, and look both ways. Here comes Grover, Sesame Street‘s boisterous and valiant blue monster, on a mission to help make the world’s roads safe for children and families, making his first public presentation in this role on 12 April at the Make Roads Safe event in London.
In support of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, Grover will put his considerable diplomatic skills to use as a Road Safety Ambassador to help raise awareness and promote safe road practices.
On May 11th 2011 to kick off the global launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety dozens of TV channels throughout the world will broadcast a series of non-verbal Sesame Street public service announcements (PSAs), developed in partnership with the FIA Foundation. Grover will be wearing the official international road safety symbol-a yellow Road Safety tag to show his support to the road safety cause.
“The Decade of Action is a critical opportunity for coordinated action among our global partners to mobilize our media reach to promote road safety awareness among road users, especially families with young children,” said Gary E. Knell, Sesame Workshop President and CEO. “The PSA messages, generously funded by the FIA Foundation, and Framework, developed with the Global Road Safety Partnership, promote an early understanding of critical road safety knowledge for increased use of seatbelts, child restraints and helmets, and encourage safe pedestrian behavior.”
In addition to PSAs Sesame Workshop and the Global Road Safety Partnership are jointly developing a Road Safety Education Framework intended as a practical guide for Road Safety educators, parents and practitioners who are developing content, educational materials and communication strategies to help children better understand the risks associated with travel on or near the roads, and to internalize and implement safer behaviors around roads and vehicles.
The Framework is being developed using the unique lens of Sesame Workshop’s 40-plus years of research-based experience and the Global Road Safety Partnership’s deep knowledge and expertise of global best practices in road safety education, and is intended to be customized to reflect cultural circumstances and local realities of infrastructures and local road users’ challenges and experiences.
Andrew Pearce, Chief Executive of the Global Road Safety Partnership, said, “The decision of Sesame Workshop to support the Decade of Action on Road Safety is one that I am convinced will result in fewer lives being lost around the world. As well as its high quality, research-based educational materials, Sesame Workshop brings fun, excitement and the sheer star quality that will help many new people to get involved and contribute to the growing road safety movement. We are delighted to have been able to help Sesame Workshop with this important contribution to the launch of the Decade.”
Sesame Workshop became a member of Global Road Safety Partnership in 2010 and has further committed to participating in the Decade by mobilizing media to make road safety awareness a “top-of-mind issue among road users,” and incorporating road safety content into all local Sesame programs. In addition to the PSAs and Framework, Sesame Workshop is developing plans of action with local partners in road safety in Jordan, Mexico, and Germany launching May 11th.
