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INTRODUCING THE 2017 ALLIANCE ADVOCATES
Next month, the 2017 cohort of Alliance Advocates will start their training at the FedEx headquarters in Memphis, US. The 15 Advocates represent 15 countries across five continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
The Alliance Advocate program does not finish after the two weeks training. Delegates create an ambitious action plan for the future. To be an Alliance Advocate is an ongoing commitment to push for evidence-based road safety solutions and to be role models within the Alliance.
The 2016 Advocates are already making their mark on global road safety. In the last three months alone, we have featured significant changes in national law in Tunisia and the Philippines resulting from the efforts of 2016 Alliance Advocates, and many impacts in other countries.
Next month, the Alliance will launch a new publication presenting the Alliance Empowerment Program, including the Alliance Advocate program, as the Alliance’s response to the SDGs. Read more about the Alliance Advocates training HERE and see a video teaser from last year’s training HERE.
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Alliance members in several countries, including FEVR, Luxembourg; ACA-M, Portugal; and Road Safety Pioneers, Iran, have played an important role pushing their governments to include SDG 3.6 (to halve the number of deaths and injuries on roads globally by 2020) in their 2017 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). The VNRs are an opportunity for governments to report on their progress towards the SDGs at the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which met this month in New York, US.
This year, 44 countries performed VNRs. The road safety SDG has been reviewed by Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Brazil, Cyprus, Portugal, Sweden, and Uruguay have also reported on policy measures to improve road safety. Others are reviewing related goals and targets. (Source: FIA Foundation and the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport).
Alliance members received praise and thanks for their contribution from FIA Foundation, who hosted a side event at the HLPF, pushing for greater focus on road safety. We are very proud of the contribution that our members make to keeping governments accountable for safer roads and are honored to support FIA Foundation, Global Initiative for Child Health and Mobility, and G4 Alliance in their call at the HLPF for urgent action to meet the global target for road safety. Read more HERE.
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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SAFER ROADS
Safe roads don't just prevent crashes, they enable people to make healthier choices.
This month, Jeffrey Witte, President, represented the Alliance at the first meeting of the strategic advisory network on the creation of the Global Plan for Physical Activity organized by WHO.
He took with him insights from Alliance members around the world, including People's Trust Jaipur, India; Fundação Thiago de Moraes Gonzaga, Brazil; AMVIRO, Mozambique; Project CARES, Philippines; and Society of Road Safety Ambassadors, Botswana. The main thrust of the feedback from members was the need for roads and transport to be designed for safe use by pedestrians and cyclists. These are currently lacking in many countries, especially in LMICs, leading to greater risk of road traffic injury and respiratory disease. It was also observed in the feedback that, in poorer countries, walking and cycling are associated with poverty and rural living and the aspiration is to own and use motorized transport. In these countries, getting enough “exercise” is the problem of the wealthy.
We are pleased that the Alliance and its NGOs have been recognized as stakeholders in this consultation. It demonstrates the global public health context of what our members do and the expertise that they have in promoting safer, sustainable roads. Read more HERE.
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GET INVOLVED: ALLIANCE PILLAR WORKING GROUPS
One of the purposes of the Alliance is to coordinate and empower Alliance members to advocate on a global scale for safer roads.
It was therefore decided at the Global Meeting that working groups should be created to provide a forum for Alliance members to discuss issues arising from the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) meetings. The working groups will also offer insight to the UNRSC and make proposals to be put forward for discussion. Five working groups will be created, one for each of the pillars of the Decade of Action.
We are working on the detail for this new initiative, and members will receive further information soon. Read more about the UNRSC HERE.
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WHO have launched a new evidence-based package for road safety practitioners and decision makers that focuses on six key strategies incorporating 22 interventions for reducing road traffic deaths:
- Speed management,
- Leadership,
- Infrastructure design and improvement,
- Vehicle safety standards,
- Enforcement of traffic laws
- Survival [post crash].
The package includes flyers, short videos, a PowerPoint, and a social media package, as well as a full report. The Alliance supports the SaveLIVES package and will be making it central to our efforts to support road safety NGOs. Lotte Brondum, Executive Director, says: “At the Alliance, we see this package becoming a key resource for our members. It is planned that our capacity building efforts and the Alliance Empowerment Program will be aligned to the recommendations outlined in the SaveLIVES package.”
Read more HERE. |
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MEMBER FEATURE: FATALITY FREE FRIDAY
Fridays are one of the deadliest days on Australian roads. In 2016, there were only two Fridays with no reported road fatalities.
Alliance member Australian Road Safety Foundation is the organizer of a national campaign, Fatality Free Friday, that encourages drivers to make a personal pledge to commit to five key road safety principles on the last Friday in May. It is hoped that if drivers commit to driving more safely on Fatality Free Friday, they will also do so the next day and, ultimately, change their behavior entirely.
Fatality Free Friday reached 19 million people this year, and 220,000 commitments were made. It is promoted at local, state, and national levels through a media campaign, events, and partnerships with emergency services and other public authorities. The theme this year was “live for your loved ones,” which was visualized in a display of mailboxes in the shape of houses to represent the number of people killed in road crashes in 2016. Read more HERE.
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ALLIANCE WELCOMES FIVE NEW MEMBERS
The Alliance is excited to welcome five new member organizations that joined us in June.
Read more about our new members HERE, and please stop by their member profiles on the Alliance’s website to learn more about the important work they do to promote safer roads and reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities around the world.
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