Education Vietnam Project #4954

Give a Vietnamese child a helmet; save a life

by AIP Foundation

Project Report | Nov 4, 2019
Celebrating progress for child road safety in Vietnam

By Bohesa Won | Communications and Development Coordinator

During the past few months, we took to the streets to elevate the importance of child safety on the roads.

In September, we joined over 3,000 first-grade students and 3,000 parents in Hanoi, Vietnam for the “Wear Helmets for Children” Call For Advocacy Walking Event, where we walked side by side community members in support of the Prime Minister’s directive, which aims for over 80% of children in Vietnam to wear a standard helmet when riding a motorbike or electric bicycle by 2020.

Our advocacy moved beyond the streets to the screens, when we published our "Love your child, provide a helmet" PSA campaign on one of our Vietnam program Facebook pages, leveraging the influence of social media channels to spread messages on the importance of safe driving behavior and helmet use to parents and communities nationwide.

More recently, we celebrated a milestone of progress with the removal of fixed speed limits in Vietnam. Since 2005, AIP Foundation has been working on safe school zones for children, promoting infrastructural modifications including speed reduction. On October 15, Circular 31/2019 officially took effect in the country, marking a critical shift from fixed speed limits to dynamic and context-specific speed limits which will better protect students on roads in Vietnam.

Read on to see why we have more reasons to celebrate our shared progress for safer and healthier children.

AIP Foundation reflects on 6 months of progress with Helmets for Kids in 10 primary schools in Vietnam

July 31, 2019

From January to June this year, Helmets for Families, supported by Abbott, carried out school-based educational campaigns and helmet distribution programming in 10 primary schools across three provinces in Ho Chi Minh City. Four new primary schools in Nha Be district with 11,311 students and 534 teachers and school staff were selected for 2019-2020 programming based on the road environment of the school, the economic need of the community, and low helmet wearing rates among the community.

A special component of the Helmets for Families programming this year included the coordination of meetings between health professionals from head injury departments and parents and teachers from the four new program schools. In March, parents and teachers met with health professionals at Cho Ray Hospital and visited road crash victims who have suffered from brain injuries. Their discussions with Doctor Tran Quang Vinh, Head of Neuro-Resuscitation, and Doctor Huynh Le Phuong, Head of Neurosurgery, on the consequences of road crashes and on the causes of brain injury are part of a longer video that will be shown to all target program school teachers and parents in upcoming September.

With the introduction of Helmets for Families programming in the four new schools in Nha Be district, AIP Foundation found that the average helmet wearing rate among students increased significantly from 40.6% to 82.2%. These results demonstrate the importance of incorporating numerous approaches to address public health crises, from helmet distributions to conversations between medical professionals and community members.

Click here to watch the discussion between health professionals, parents, and teachers at Cho Ray Hospital.

AIP Foundation visits five hospitals across Ho Chi Minh City to distribute 6,400 informative hand fans

September 11, 2019 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

AIP Foundation coordinated five hospital visits during the week of September 4-9 to distribute 6,400 informative hand fans to patients at Cho Ray, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Nhi Dong 2 hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City through the Helmets for Families program, sponsored by Abbott.

The hand fans contained useful tips and information including instructions on how to wear a helmet properly, how to identify the safety features of a standard helmet, and a list of sanctions for people who break the law by failing to wear a helmet.

The fan distribution event was preceded by a visit to Cho Ray Hospital earlier this year in March to engage health professionals with parents and teachers from program schools. Participants visited road crashes victims who have suffered from brain injuries and saw firsthand the importance of proper helmet use while driving or riding on a motorcycle. You can read more about the visit and workshop here.

View more photos from the hand fan distribution event here.

STAY CON

"oi mu cho con, tron tình cha me" (meaning: "Love your child, provide a helmet") PSA airs on AIP Foundation Safety Delivered Facebook page.

Safety Delivered PSA alerts parents in Vietnam with the message, “Love your child, provide a helmet.”

August 26, 2019

AIP Foundation is leveraging the influence of social media channels to spread messages on the importance of safe driving behavior and helmet use to parents and communities nationwide in Vietnam for its Safety Delivered program. In August, AIP Foundation aired a PSA titled, “oi mu cho con, tron tình cha me” (meaning: “Love your child, provide a helmet”) on its Vietnamese Safety Delivered Facebook fanpage, reaching over 2,000 views in just two weeks. The thirty-second PSA encourages parents to consider the potential message they could be sending their child if they do not enforce helmet wearing, and aims to influence safe behaviors of parents and their children in the future.

Just last month, AIP Foundation received approval from the National Traffic Safety Committee to begin the second phase of Safety Delivered. From 2019 to 2020, Safety Delivered is set to reach a total of more than 10,500 students and teachers in Vietnam. Through the Safety Delivered program, students and teachers will receive free or subsidized helmets, in addition to road safety education and awareness raising programs for communities.

Students join hands with road safety leaders and stakeholders during the "Wear Helmets for Children" Call For Advocacy Event in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Thousands mobilize on the streets for “Wear Helmets for Children” Call For Advocacy Event

September 8, 2019 - Hanoi, Vietnam

The “Wear Helmets for Children” Call For Advocacy Walking Event, which took place on Sunday morning on Ho Guom street in Hanoi, received overwhelming support from the local community with more than 3,000 first-grade students and 3,000 parents in attendance to support the Prime Minister’s directive, which aims for over 80% of children in Vietnam to wear a standard helmet when riding a motorbike or electric bicycle by 2020. The event was hosted by the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Hanoi People’s Committee.

The day began with children’s performances to welcome distinguished guests and featured introductory speeches by several government officials. Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People Committee, and Phung Xuan Nha, Minister of Education and Training, initiated the ceremony and participated in the signing of a coordination program which will promote traffic safety education in schools between 2019-2024. Following the signing agreement, Truong Hoa Binh, Standing Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of National Traffic Safety Committee, urged children and parents to remember to wear their helmets.

Twenty first grade students also participated onstage in the official helmet handover ceremony, while parents wore helmets to symbolize their commitment to children’s safety.

Distinguished guests and officials present at the event included Ms. Truong Thi Mai, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Head of the Central Commission for Public Affairs; Nguyen Van The, Minister of Transport; Khuat Viet Hung, Deputy Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee; Mr. Kunjo Umeda, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam; and Colonel Do Thanh Binh, Deputy Director of Traffic Police Department, Ministry of Public Security.

The 500 meter walk started at Ly Thai To Monument and ended at Kamikaze Monument. The event concluded with commitment signing and a call-to-action for children and parents to commit to wearing helmets.

Ms. Mirjam Sidik, CEO of AIP Foundation, Ms. Tran Le Thu, Operations Manager of UPS Vietnam, and Mr. Keisuke Tsuruzono, General Manager of Honda, joined hands in walking with students and parents, symbolizing their commitment to road crash prevention. Luong Thuy Linh, Miss World Vietnam, and artists including Lan Huong, Bao Thanh, and Xuan Bac, also attended the event to show their support in promoting helmet wearing among children in Vietnam.
View more photos from the event here.

Abbott volunteer helps student adjust their helmet chin strap, displaying proper helmet wearing technique.

Nearly 1,000 students and Abbott volunteers participate in road safety festival in Vietnam

October 4, 2019

Nearly 1,000 children and teachers attended the “Children Have Fun with Road Safety” festival through the Helmets for Families program, organized by AIP Foundation and supported by the global healthcare company Abbott, in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Education and Training. More than 30 Abbott volunteers joined students of Le Loi Primary School, in Nha Be district, for the festival which coincided with Annual Traffic Safety Month in Vietnam.

At the festival, students and volunteers participated in road safety games, paintings, and helmet-wearing demonstrations to reinforce previous road safety education delivered by AIP Foundation at program schools.

“We are very pleased with all of the support from the Abbott volunteers at this event. The children are always excited to attend and learn about safe helmet use from volunteers, and these festivals are a great opportunity for students to learn outside of the classroom, especially to know more about traffic safety and to raise awareness of themselves about road safety to protect their lives and others,” said Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Deputy of Education and Training Department of Nha Be District.

Read more about the event in the Press Release here.

See more photos from the event.

Students raising their brand new helmets in the air to celebrate a successful kick-off ceremony.

Three exciting extracurricular days kick off the Helmets for Kids program’s expansion to 20 schools

October 4, 2019

30 September 2019 – Gia Lai, Vietnam

3 October 2019 – Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

4 October 2019 in Yen Bai, Vietnam

With the support of the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), AIP Foundation and Johnson & Johnson organized three kick-off ceremonies during the month of September and October to celebrate the expansion of the Helmets for Kids program into 16 new program schools across Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai, and Gia Lai provinces in Vietnam. All program schools are located on provincial or national highways, such as 1B and QL37, which are exposed to heavy traffic volume, and have student populations which lack standard helmets and often have lower helmet-wearing rates. Combined with the 4 ongoing program schools in Thai Nguyen, Helmets for Kids will distribute 5,900 helmets across a total of 20 program schools.

Read more about the events in the Press Release here.

See more photos:

Gia Lai Ceremony photos.

Thai Nguyen Ceremony photos.

Yen Bai Ceremony photos.

Since 2005, AIP Foundation has been working on safe school zones for children, promoting infrastructural modifications including speed reduction.

Circular 31: Milestone of change occurs in Vietnam with removal of fixed speed limits

October 15, 2019

Circular 31/2019 officially takes effect in Vietnam today, requiring that the “installation of speed signs must be based on the actual situation of the road sections and routes on traffic infrastructure, on the flow, types of vehicles and the time of day” (In Clause 1, Article 10).

Between 2014-2016, the Transport Development And Strategy Institute (TDSI) conducted a ministry-level study, researching the scientific basis for application of a “dynamic speed limit” to improve the efficiency of Vietnam’s national highway network usage. This research determined that the use of fixed speed limits in Vietnam has many shortcomings.

In April 2018, AIP Foundation, in collaboration with the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee, and the Gia Lai Department of Transportation, supported by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), implemented Slow Zones, Safe Zones, a two-year project that focuses on speed reduction and school zone safety in Pleiku. This project involved the installation of speed limit signs in school zones, adjusted according to time of day.

Mid-term speed results showed that the average speed of motorcycles around the pilot schools was reduced by 5 km/h; the average speed of cars was reduced by 11km/h; and large vehicles, such as buses, showed reductions of almost 20 km/h around the schools, further proving the effectiveness of dynamic speed limits. These results are likely to have influenced the government’s adoption of Circular 31/2019.

Slow Zones, Safe Zones, is one of three projects currently funded by Fondation Botnar, managed by GRSP, to improve road safety for children in Vietnam between 2018-2020.

Although Vietnam has not yet fully applied the concept of a “dynamic speed limit,” Circular 31/2019 is an initial step in moving away from a fixed speed limit, and an important milestone of change with respect to speed limit regulation in Vietnam.

To read more about the Circular 31/2019, please read the memo here.

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Aug 6, 2019
Celebrating safer school zones and safer children

By Bohesa Won | Communications and Development Coordinator

In the last quarter, AIP Foundation has built on the progress of our school zone safety efforts and the impact of our helmet distribution projects in numerous schools across provinces in Vietnam. We have seen decreases in reported student crashes and reductions in the average speed of drivers in school zones near project schools, coupled with measured increases in helmet wearing rates across schoolchildren that we have worked with. Read more about our progress and indicators below.

Vietnam's first school zone speed reduction program observes one year of success

19 June, 2019 - Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province, Vietnam

Raoul Powlowski of the Global Road Safety Partnership symbolically providing Mr. Luu Dinh Canh of the Pleiku Police with a speed gun to assist with enforcement

AIP Foundation collaborated with the Gia Lai National Traffic Safety Committee to host a midterm review workshop in Pleiku City for Slow Zones, Safe Zones, the first-ever pilot program to reduce speed in school zones in Vietnam, supported by Fondation Botnar and the Global Road Safety Partnership. The program focuses on speed reduction and school zone safety through the construction of tailored school-zone modifications like speed bumps, road markings, speed reduction signs, and sidewalks. Additional program components include increased law enforcement, road safety public awareness campaign to promote positive road user behavior, and the development and testing of a nationally applicable road safety e-curriculum.

The program has seen great success in speed reduction so far including a reduction of speed to 40 km/h on national roads running past Nguyen Luong Bang Primary School and 30 km/h on provincial roads running past Phan Dang Luu Primary School. After one year of implementation, AIP Foundation found that parent knowledge of current speed limit and other traffic issues increased from 15.6% to 62.4%. The average speed of drivers around school zones in Pleiku reduced around 10 km/h for motorcycles and 15-20 km/h for cars, buses, and trucks. Reported student crashes fell from 25.3% to 7.4% The percentage of students hurt in road crashes near program schools in Pleiku also fell to 69% from 88.3%.

AIP Foundation hosted an experience sharing workshop with two other Foundation Botnar and Global Road Safety Partnership grantees, Save the Children and Plan International. The workshop concluded with site visits to the two program schools. Next program steps include advocating for continued police enforcement and advocating for continued speed reduction legislation.

Please see more photos from our launch here

Over twenty program schools reflect on successful Helmets for Kids 2018-2019 program

May 31, 2019

Teachers, government representatives, parents and students come together to learn from this year’s program.

AIP Foundation coordinated with Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee organized a 2018-2019 school year Helmets For Kids review workshop for nearly 100 people, including Mr. Le Van Hanh, a representative from the Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and other representatives from Gia Lai Department of Education and Training, Board of Education and Training, teachers, parents, and students. Helmets For Kids is supported by long-time partner Johnson & Johnson. After three successful years of program implementation in the province, general helmet wearing rates in the province remains high at nearly 95% – marking the overall effectiveness of the program. The Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and AIP Foundation presented all 12 program schools with awards for their excellent job protecting their students and school community this year. AIP Foundation also conducted an orientation and teacher training workshop for representatives from three new program schools. Staff from these new schools were introduced to the program, trained on how to use program guideline and shown how to measure children’s heads to choose correct helmet size and fit.

Following the workshops in Gia Lai, a review and orientation workshop was held in Thai Nguyen with more than 60 participants from the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee, Department of Education and Training, school boards, and parents. After one year of implementation at Helmets For Kids schools, the helmet wearing rate of Thai Nguyen has increased from 8% to 93%. During the 2019-2020 school year four new schools will join the program together with four existing schools, increasing the total number of program schools in Thai Nguyen to eight this year. AIP Foundation also held eleven successful reflection workshops in Quang Nam and Yen Bai, marking five and three years of impactful program implementation respectively. In general, the helmet wearing rate in Yen Bai and Quang Nam has remained above 95%. In addition to the review workshop, activities in Quang Nam included a “Traffic Culture for Children” day.

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May 8, 2019
Vietnamese government commits to helmet safety

By Alex Nguyen | Communications & Development Coordinator

In the last quarter, we have collaborated with both the government and private sector organizations to distribute helmets, provide safety education, and spread public awareness of the importance of helmets. The Vietnamese government made firm commitments at the first Round the World Roundtable in March to support the UN's Voluntary Global Performance Targets for Road Safety. Read more below.

Vietnam commits to United Nations road crash prevention goals at Round the World Roundtable

19-03-2019 - Hanoi

Students at the Round the World Roundtable in Hanoi.

Leading up to the 3rd United Nations Ministerial Meeting scheduled in Sweden in February 2020, Vietnam has been selected to launch a 5-continent initiative organized by the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. The initiative supports the UN Voluntary Global Performance Targets for Road Safety.

At the event, a symbolic baton was handed over to UN Special Envoy Jean Todt by the Government of Vietnam to signify their commitment.

“The Vietnamese government recognizes the challenges remaining and has committed to: 1) increase helmet wearing rates among children of Vietnam to over 80% by 2030; 2) enforce compliance of quality helmets and ban all counterfeit helmets that do not meet technical requirements; 3) ensure successful implementation of the 3-year GVN road safety action plan which includes the Global Road Safety Performance Targets; and 4) present these commitments in Stockholm in 2020,” said Dr. Khuat Viet Hung, Vice Chairman of the NTSC.

In turn, civil society partners and the corporate sector have committed to support the initiatives set forth by the Government, marking a global milestone in road crash prevention.

Read the full press release here.

View more photos from the Roundtable here.

Helmets for Families engages medical experts to enhance its school and family-based interventions

16-04-2019 - Ho Chi Minh City

Students welcome Abbott employees and volunteers to their school

Helmets for Families, supported by Abbott, introduced its sixth year of programming with a launch event held at Lam Van Ben Primary School in Nha Be District, where 1,292 students and teachers received free helmets. AIP Foundation hosted the event in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Education and Training.

This year’s Helmets for Families program will continue collaborating with doctors and medical professionals, using their experiences working with road crash victims to educate teachers, parents, and students about the very real dangers of not wearing a helmet. “Teachers and parents play an important role to promote and sustain safe road behavior for students,” said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee. “Without their cooperation and enthusiasm it would be difficult to re-enforce safe helmet use. Educational activities directly influence the awareness and behavior of students, parents and community members to wear quality helmets properly.”

Last month, teachers and parents visited doctors and patients at Cho Ray National Hospital to learn from their experiences with road-related tragedies. Afterwards, this information was incorporated into teacher trainings at program schools. Helmets for Families provides communication materials to road crash injury patients and their families at national and local hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City.

Please see photos here

Please read the press release here to find out more about the event.

Helmets for Families engages teachers and volunteers to promote helmet wearing in Ho Chi Minh City

05-04-2019 - Ho Chi Minh City

Abbott volunteers implement creative interventions at Cu Chi District primary schools

During the first week of April, worked with a trainer from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health to deliver a series of teacher trainings for nearly 150 teachers at four program schools in Nha Be District as part of our Helmets for Familiesprogram sponsored by Abbott. The trainings focused on correct helmet use and gave advice on how to improve helmet wearing rates at each school. Teachers enthusiastically engaged in discussion sessions and brainstormed ideas to improve project implementation. Later in the week, AIP Foundation connected with volunteers from Abbott to create educational artwork to demonstrate correct helmet use for program schools in Cu Chi District. These paintings were hung up at the school gates to remind students and parents to always wear helmets. During the 2017-2018 school year, Helmets for Families made significant impacts at new intervention schools. The average helmet wearing rate at schools in Cu Chi District increased from 18% to 90%. Additionally, the rate of parents wearing quality helmets increased from 25% to 57% at the same new project schools.

Please see more photos from the launch here.

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