Child Protection Cambodia Project #15183

Protect Cambodian Children from Brain Injury

by AIP Foundation

Project Report | Oct 12, 2020
Road Safety Awareness & Covid 19 Prevention

By Pritika Kumar | Development Coordinator - AIP Foundation

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:

Cambodian University students hit the streets to raise awareness on road safety and COVID-19 prevention

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.

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Jun 22, 2020
Celebrating Children's Day in Cambodia

By Bohesa Won | Communications and Development Coordinator

Each year, for International Children's Day, AIP Foundation joins parents, teachers, and communities around the world in celebrating the safety and well-being of the children in our lives. With each passing year also comes the reminder of our collective duty and responsibility to create a world that is safer for children, so they can work towards brighter futures and fulfill their highest potential.

At AIP Foundation, we understand that protecting children and youth will require the involvement of all sectors of society to make the world's roads safer. Only in working together can we protect children on every journey to and from school, ensuring that they can get back safely to their families. Through smart and responsible investments, public education, awareness-raising, and partnerships across society, we can work towards a world where each International Children's Day celebrates a world where children do not face harm or injury on the roads.

The changes towards a world with safer roads may begin small, but collectively, we can work to promote broad shifts in the behavior of road users and in the priorities of governments. Let us remember that we can do more for the children in our lives and for their friends and peers across the globe.

Please read on to see how AIP Foundation is working to progress to a world with safer roads for young students and children in Cambodia.

Children reading banners with road crash prevention messages in front of primary school in Phnom Penh.

Students reminded of life-saving road behaviors in Cambodia during International Children’s Day

June 1, 2020

In celebration of International Children’s Day, AIP Foundation hung long banners with messages reminding students of life-saving behaviors, such as helmet-wearing, in front of school gates at four primary schools in Phnom Penh. The banners also featured messages directed towards parents about the dangers of speeding and distracted driving.

These educational activities follow donations of nearly 2,000 helmets to students and teachers at Chey Chumneas, Chbar Ampov 2, Hangor Sraschok, and Kean Kleang Primary School, in December 2019 and January 2020. The initial results of our donations surpassed our expectations with average helmet use rates across the schools, originally near zero, increasing to 58 percent.

To support behavior change and enforcement, AIP Foundation partners with university students who serve as Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety through our Safety Delivered program, empowering them as positive road safety role models.

Passage of Increased Fines for Road Traffic Laws in Cambodia in Effect May 2020

May 1, 2020

The Cambodian government recently amended its Sub-Decree on Fines on Road Traffic Offenses, taking effect May 1, 2020. The amendment increases traffic fines by three to five times their previous amounts for offenses such as failure to wear a helmet, speeding, ignoring traffic signs, failing a sobriety test, and using a mobile phone while driving, among other violations.

Police records during the first 31 days of the enforcement of the amended sub-decree reveal that hand-held mobile phone use accounted for over 1% of issued fines on motorcyclists, and over 8.6% of fines on four-wheeled vehicle drivers. To enforce the updated laws, the government has trained 3,919 police personnel on the new regulations.

AIP Foundation has been a strong advocate for stricter traffic laws and enforcement in Cambodia, where it has launched several road safety interventions targeting high-risk road behaviors. Since 2017, the organization’s Safety Delivered program has focused on addressing mobile phone use, helmets, speeding, seatbelts, and drink driving, including a series of street-based awareness campaigns in partnership with the Cambodia Traffic Police and with university students serving as Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety.

AIP Foundation continues to support efforts to protect vulnerable road users in Cambodia by improving traffic enforcement and legislation, including working with the National Road Safety Committee to discuss action plans for decreasing road fatalities nationwide, engaging traffic police in our road safety activities with students, and training university educators on the importance of improving youth driving behaviors.

Mothers in Battambang, Cambodia, learned about road traffic laws and the importance of safe road behaviors during major upcoming holidays, such as Khmer New Year.

Engaging Mothers on International Women's Day for Road Safety Forum in Cambodia

March 4, 2020

In celebration of International Women’s Day, AIP Foundation organized a helmet-use forum for 40 mothers of students at Onlong Vil Primary School in Battambang, Cambodia. Educating parents of students at target schools on the importance of helmet use is a vital part of the Helmets for Families program, supported by Manulife Cambodia.

At the forum, mothers received information on the impact of road crashes on society and their families, the relationship between helmet use and injury prevention, and their valuable role in encouraging helmet use in their families. Additionally, the mothers learned about road traffic laws in Cambodia and the importance of safe road behaviors during major holidays, such as the upcoming Khmer New Year, when the amount of road traffic and the likelihood of road crashes increases.

Following the forum, 600 students from Onlong Vil Primary School also received training on road safety through extracurricular activities and games, in which students learned the importance of helmet use and learned how to read traffic signs, cross the road safely, and properly ride on a motorcycle with their parents.

The Helmets for Families program donated 1,238 helmets to teachers, students, and parents of Onlong Vil Primary School in December 2019. In the coming months, the Helmets for Families will continue to implement other activities at Onlong Vil Primary School to promote helmet use knowledge, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, General Commiserate of National Police, and National Road Safety Committee.

See more photos from the road safety forum here.

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Feb 27, 2020
Investing in young students and their communities in Cambodia

By Bohesa Won | Communications and Development Coordinator

Investing in the safety and lives of young students at our program schools in Cambodia is a long-term investment in the growth and resilience of their communities.

Each year, road crash injuries and fatalities disproportionately burden the youngest individuals in society. Across the world, road crashes remain the leading cause of death for children and youth aged 5-29. The lives of these children and youth are tragically cut short at a time when they are learning and working towards brighter futures.

It is time to work towards a more sustainable future for our children and youth. Please join us in supporting positive impacts and safer behavior on the roads through education, behavioral change, and positive inspiration for youth.

Please read on to see what the past few months have held for AIP Foundation's work with young students and children in Cambodia.

Students participating in a performance with their brand new helmets on stage.

Helmets for Families delivers quality helmets to students in third most populous province of Cambodia

December 12, 2019

The Helmets for Families program, organized by AIP Foundation with the support of Manulife Cambodia, held a symbolic helmet handover ceremony at Onlong Vil Primary School in Onlong Vil Commune, Sangke District, Battambang Province, in which 1,238 helmets were donated to students, teachers, and parents. The event was attended by provincial and national government representatives, including officers of Battambang Province, well as road safety stakeholders and representatives from Manulife Cambodia and AIP Foundation.

Despite the introduction of the universal helmet law in Cambodia in 2015, approximately 80-95% of students commute by motorcycle or bicycle at Onlong Vil Primary School, yet less than 5% of students wear helmets. At least 80% of students at Onlong Vil are from low-income local families, making it difficult for parents to afford a helmet for their children. The event concluded with stakeholders and representatives symbolically placing the donated helmets on students and teachers of Onlong Vil Primary School, representing the new partnership.

The Helmets for Families program, which has operated in Cambodia since 2012, aims to provide parents with quality helmets, as well promote helmet use through engaging parents as role models, providing training opportunities, and targeting mothers—as well as their children—to be educated on safe road behaviors.

Read the Press Release to learn more about the event.

Students with their brand new helmets during the Safety Delivered 2019 kick-off event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Safety Delivered encourages students to wear motorcycle helmets as part of school uniforms

December 24, 2019

Nearly 720 primary school students and teachers at Chbar Amov 2 and Wat Mongkol Serei Kean Kleang Primary School in Phnom Penh received quality helmets and were encouraged to wear them as part of their school uniforms during the Safety Delivered 2019 kick-off event, implemented by AIP Foundation and supported by The UPS Foundation.

The event aims to inspire young students to be role models in their community by promoting helmet use. Over the course of the 2019-2020 program, The UPS Foundation will donate more than 2,000 helmets to primary schools located in high-risk communities.

“Since we have the passenger helmet law in place, we began enforcement of the mandatory passenger helmet law nationwide,” Mr. Chan Buntheurn, Commune Chief of Traffic Police of Chroy Changvar Commune, said. “Since then, we have seen a dramatic increase in safer road behaviors in our community. It’s programs like Safety Delivered which complement our robust law enforcement efforts, and inspire us to continue pushing toward our goal of halving Cambodia’s road crash deaths by 2020.”

Chbar Ampov 2 and Wat Mongkol Serei Kean Kleang Primary School are located on busy, national roads.

In 2017, at least two students from these schools were reported to have passed away due to a road crash. Tragically, one of those students was not wearing a helmet when his father was driving him home from school, suffering a fatal head injury caused by a motorcycle crash. Currently in Cambodia, 80% of students commute to school by motorcycles and bicycles though only about 1% wear helmets.In addition to receiving helmets, students and their teachers also participated in educational activities during the event to learn more about road crash prevention.

The program also engages parents to positively influence and promote safe behaviors among students. “Children are our most valuable asset and our society, but they are also a vulnerable group. We are committed to working with our parents,” said Phan Sokheayayy, Director of Wat Mongkol Serei Kean Khleang Primary School.

Read more about the ceremony and the Safety Delivered program in the Press Release here.

View more photos from the event here.

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