Alliance Newsletter

Six months ago, at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, the Alliance launched the Commitment Tracker, an online tool for NGOs to monitor road safety commitments in their countries. In this special edition of our newsletter, we focus on the commitment tracker and how it can help NGOs to push for specific, meaningful changes that save more lives on the road.

Read about the tracker, how to submit a commitment, and an interview with Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety. Also featured are commitment stories from around the world, including a campaign that has reduced crashes in Rwanda by 17%, safer schools zones in Nigeria, a target to increase standardized children's helmets usage in Vietnam, and a new mechanism to bring the voices of victims to the decision-making process in Argentina. 

Yours sincerely,

Lotte Brondum
Executive Director

Η ΕΥΘΥΤΑ-ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΡΙΟ ΟΔΙΚΗΣ ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΡΟΔΟΥ, ενεργό μέλος της

WHY ROAD SAFETY COMMITMENT MATTERS: INTERVIEW WITH JEAN TODT “A well-articulated commitment is an opportunity for us all, and especially for civil society. Once a government makes a promise vowing to instill change, we have the invitation to measure their actions towards a tangible target.” Last year, Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, accepted Round the World Roundtable commitments from national government decision makers in Vietnam, Ecuador, and Colombia at public ceremonies on behalf of the road safety NGO community. We interviewed the Special Envoy for his views on why commitments like these are important and how road safety NGOs can push for more commitment and more action. Read the interview HERE.

VIETNAM: NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO SAVE LIVES Between 2017 and 2019, the percentage of children wearing helmets on motorcycles in Vietnam has increased from 35% to 70%, according to Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam in his speech at the launch for the government's Keeping Dreams program earlier this summer. In March 2019, at the first Round the World Roundtable, organized by AIP Foundation, the government of Vietnam has built on its progress by making a national commitment to increase helmet use to 80% by 2030, ban all sub-standard helmets, enforce helmet standard compliance, and implement a three-year road safety action plan. Read about the actions that the government has put in place to achieve these targets, and the progress that has been achieved so far HERE.

NIGERIA: SAFER SCHOOL ZONES When Kwapda'as Road Safety Demand Trust (KRSD Trust) assessed the safety around City Royal Secondary School in Abuja, it invited Federal Capital Territory Minister Mallam Muhammad Bello to attend a presentation of the results. The presentation led, not only to a commitment for infrastructure changes outside City Royal school, but also a wider commitment to enforce improve safety around all schools in the Federal Capital Territory, covering a population of 3.5 million people. Read more about the progress of the commitment HERE.

RWANDA: GERAYO AMAHORO — 52 WEEKS OF ROAD SAFETY According to official police data road crash rates in Rwanda have decreased 17% since the start of the Gerayo Amahoro (“arrive safely”) campaign, a 52-week road safety initiative spearheaded by the Rwanda Police Force in collaboration with NGO Healthy People Rwanda (HPR). The initiative is a result of a commitment made by the Ministry of Infrastructure to HPR to implement a national-level road safety campaign. While the campaign, which has mobilized a wide range of religious, community, media, and private sector groups alongside government agencies, was interrupted in week 46 by the pandemic, it has made a broad impact with wide recognition across the country. Read more HERE.

ARGENTINA: NEW VICTIMS' OBSERVATORY Road victims in Argentina, alongside victims of sexual violence and other violent crime, now have an official channel to bring the experiences of victims to influence national policy through the creation of a Victims' Observatory. Resulting from a commitment gained by Asociación Civil Madres del Dolor from the President of the House of Representatives, it puts road victims on an equal footing with other victims of violence and brings an important voice to decision makers. Read more HERE.

SUBMIT A COMMITMENT Do you have a commitment for the Commitment Tracker? Or could you get one? Submit your commitment HERE. Commitments on the tracker must: Follow SMART principles (i.e., be specific and measurable with a clear timeframe) Be made by a local or national government decision maker or department Be a written commitment, not a verbal promise Be a commitment for actions that make citizens safer on the roads Submitted commitments are verified before they are set to active and visible on the tracker. We may contact you for additional information. Submitting a commitment to the tracker helps ensure that our leaders remain accountable for their road safety commitments and demonstrates the impact of NGO advocacy around the world.

SUBMIT A COMMITMENT

APPLY NOW: CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT TRAINING Applications are now open for the Alliance's Campaign Management Training. The training aims to strengthen the voice of road safety NGOs in Africa and build the capacity of the Alliance's Africa Chapter. The three-day training will be conducted in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme and is funded by Total Foundation and FedEx. It will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, with video conferencing for NGOs in other African countries, to avoid the need for unnecessary travel. The training will be three days, four hours per day, and include extensive group exercises and interactive training methods. The deadline for applications is 2 September 2020. Apply HERE. This training is open to Alliance member NGOs in Africa only.

APPLY FOR TRAINING

ALLIANCE WELCOMES THREE NEW MEMBERS
The Alliance is delighted to welcome three new organizations that joined us recently.

• Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bengaluru, India
• Rajasthan Road Safety Society, India
• RMR Foundation, Nepal

Read more about our new members HERE.

ABOUT THE COMMITMENT TRACKER “It [the commitment process] has really helped us by bringing us closer to the decision/policy makers, as well as to know how to effectively present our demands to the policy makers.” —Ayomide Akinpelu, Programme Manager, Kwapda'as Road Safety Demand Trust Fund, Nigeria. Launched at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, the Commitment Tracker is an online tool to support NGOs in gathering and monitoring SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) commitments for road safety actions. Through the tracker, the Alliance and its NGOs are pushing their leaders to act on their commitments and promoting accountability. So far, 51 commitments have been logged on the Commitment Tracker with 16 already completed, including safer school zones created in five countries; a new emergency triage system developed in Neuquen, Argentina; and road safety added to the school curriculum in Bangladesh. Read more stories below. Explore the Commitment Tracker HERE. Find out how to submit a commitment for the tracker BELOW.