The road crash crisis is affected by numerous factors, such as road user behavior, road safety management, the constructed environment, and the accessibility of safe vehicles and protective equipment. In Cambodia, AIP Foundation delivers quality helmets to children located in at-risk schools, often in dangerous traffic environments that endanger students on their way to school every day—building up their road safety knowledge through in-class education and promoting their access to protective equipment to reduce their risk of serious head injury or death during every ride. In light of the complexity of improving road safety for vulnerable communities, the solutions that partners invest their time, funding, and energy in must span sectors and focus areas. These solutions include improving road safety education for students and their teachers, sharing key informative messages to the community through creative forms and media, and working with local partners to encourage safer behaviors in their community.
In Cambodia, AIP Foundation has spent the past several months empowering local educators, building up road safety leaders among youth in our communities, and working with schools to paint educational and awareness-raising murals to encourage students to wear a helmet each and every time they ride a bicycle or motorcycle.
Together, we can work to ensure local communities and partners have access to the resources, knowledge, and skills they need to protect themselves and their loved ones on their journeys on the roads. Read on to learn more about what we have achieved to promote child helmet safety to save lives and prevent injuries in Cambodia over these past few months.
AIP Foundation distributing a certificate of completion following participation in road safety training to University educator in Phnom Penh.
December 30, 2020
Educators from O Ambel Primary School brainstorming ideas on encouraging better road safety practices amongst their students.BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia – January 19, 2021
Teachers are an important part of raising the next generation. With their encouragement and the training provided, they will be a crucial part of making roads in Cambodia safer for youth. The Helmet for Families program, supported by Manulife Cambodia, hosted a workshop for teachers to develop road safety educational materials at O Ambel Primary School.During the workshop, facilitated by AIP Foundation, work plans, lesson plans, and an array of educational materials were produced in close consultation with teachers.
January 20, 2021
A ceremony was held on December 3, 2020 to hand over quality helmets to students and teachers at special needs Bình Minh Primary School in Hà Noi, along with helmet-wearing tutorials and road safety training, as part of Helmet for Kids programme by the AIP Foundation to commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
This year’s theme for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Building Back Better,” and the primary focus is to create a more disability-inclusive, accessible, and sustainable world.
Please see below for more information about the event:
Students receiving helmet wearing instructions and enthusiastically take part in practicing.
December 3, 2020
HANOI, Vietnam – December 3, 2020
To commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, AIP Foundation organized a Helmets for Kids program donation event today at Binh Minh Primary School, an educational institution dedicated to serving children with special needs. Participating students and teachers at Binh Minh Primary School received helmets from Protec, whose own workforce includes a large number of team members with special needs. Students also received a helmet-wearing tutorial along with road safety training.
This year’s theme for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Building Back Better,” whose primary focus is to create a more disability-inclusive, accessible, and sustainable world. The U.S. government has taken concrete strides in reducing physical and social barriers for people with disabilities in Vietnam by providing nearly $125 million of support since 1989. The Government of Vietnam has also made improving the well-being of people with disabilities a high priority of national interest. Between 2012 and 2020, the Government of Vietnam has spent over $13 million annually to support for persons with disabilities in accordance with Decision 1019. In August 2020 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also signed a decision to continue support programs for persons with disabilities for 2021-2030.
The Helmets for Kids program has been a signature project of AIP Foundation since its launch during the historic U.S. presidential visit to Vietnam in 2000. Since its inception, 1 million helmets have been distributed through Helmets for Kids to primary students throughout Vietnam. This project has served as a continued reminder of the importance of U.S.-Vietnam relations, with a particular focus on proper road safety education and helmet-wearing. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink and Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc joined the event to express their solidarity and support for the program.
Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink participated in this event by delivering remarks, distributing helmets as well as enthusiastically taking part in the helmet-wearing tutorial with participating students. Against the backdrop of the 25th anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations, Ambassador Kritenbrink’s participation in the engagement demonstrated steadfast U.S. support for social inclusion initiatives in Vietnam while bolstering U.S.-Vietnam people-to-people ties. Ambassador Kritenbrink expressed his sincere appreciation to the AIP Foundation, Protec, UPS, and AA Vietnam for continuing to implement this meaningful and life-changing event year after year while highlighting the transformational impact that their efforts have had.
“This is precisely why the U.S. Mission in Vietnam is so delighted to partner with AIP Foundation, Protec and UPS to distribute helmets to vulnerable communities across Vietnam while equipping them with the life-preserving knowledge they need to remain safe as they transit Vietnam’s roadways,” Ambassador Kritenbrink stated while highlighting the fact that Vietnamese commuters are much safer and more cognizant than they have ever been of the paramount importance of wearing helmets and practicing road traffic safety thanks to the efforts of these organization.
Vietnam’s Ambassador to the United States Hà Kim Ngoc, who joined the event virtually from Washington, D.C., said “Over the past 25 years since the establishment of U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations, the Vietnamese people and children have received a lot of support from U.S. NGOs, including AIP Foundation, together with the Administration, Congress and business community. We very much appreciate that Mr. Greig Craft and the AIP Foundation have made a lot of efforts in raising the awareness of road safety and providing helmets to many schools in Viet Nam. Nowadays, the Vietnamese school-children have become the change agents for a society of safer road users.”
To read the full press release, please click here.
To view more photos, please click here.
Road trauma is the leading global cause of death for children and youth over the age of five. It is not an isolated cause, but one, which co-exists, affects and is affected by many other causes like the COVID-19 pandemic. AIP Foundation has been working diligently to bridge the gaps between different causes with different groups in the community.
In Cambodia, as traffic increases so too are the risks of road injuries and community transmission of COVID-19. Through our Safety Delivered program, our Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety at Prek Leap National College of Agriculture hit the streets by handing out informative materials and helmets to educate their peers and the public on road crash prevention.
Read below for more information:
July 30, 2020
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—23 and 30 July 2020
While neighbouring countries are experiencing a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or in the depths of combatting the pandemic, Cambodia returns to some sense of normalcy with roads quickly being reoccupied. Yet as road use increases so too are the risks of road injuries and community transmission of COVID-19. In an effort to combat the virus while advocating for better safety measures on roads, students from Prek Leap National College of Agriculture set forth a two-day awareness campaign aimed at providing tips on road safety and preventing of COVID-19 transmission to students and other road users in and around the university.
As part of the Safety Delivered program, on July 23 and 30, 2020, Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety (YARS) from the University started at ground zero by handing out over 186 pamphlets, informational stickers, helmets, and other goods to educate their peers on road crash prevention.
Safety Delivered, supported by The UPS Foundation, is a program implemented by AIP Foundation to increase awareness and education through university-based campaigns, public awareness campaigns, helmet distributions, and education in an effort to reduce road fatalities and injuries among vulnerable road users, many of which are young students.
To view photos of the two-day event, please click here.
