Give a Vietnamese child a helmet; save a life

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we begin the holiday season, we would like to take a moment to say “thank you.” It is with your support that we are able to work towards safe roads for all. This year, we are part of a call to action to celebrate a day dedicated to charitable giving. On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, we will join the global movement #GivingTuesday by encouraging our supporters to give a helmet to a child in Vietnam. Here are some updates on what we've been able to do with your support:

Helmets for Kids partner Johnson & Johnson wins international award for work on global road safety 
28 September, 2017- Birmingham, U.K.

Congratulations to our partner Johnson & Johnson for winning the BRAKE Fleet Safety Award in the category of "Global Road Safety." This category awards the organization that has worked hardest to improve road safety for all road users in communities around the world, and has road safety at the heart of its corporate social responsibility ethos. The award acknowledged the Helmets for Kids program, a partnership between Johnson & Johnson and AIP Foundation.

Helmets for Kids provides school children and teachers with quality helmets and road safety education. Over the past five years, Johnson & Johnson has supported the program in Vietnam and has donated more than 45,000 helmets to vulnerable road users.

View more photos from the event here.

CEO attends road safety conference to present on child helmet access, pedestrian safety 
10-12 October, 2017- Perth, Australia

AIP Foundation CEO Mirjam Sidik joined fellow road safety advocates at the 2017 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2017), the largest road safety-dedicated conference in the Southern Hemisphere. At the conference, Sidik presented on our contributions to Vietnam’s National Child Helmet Action Plan, which aims to increase helmet use among child motorcycle passengers. She also discussed Street Wise, our pedestrian and helmet safety program supported by Chevron in Thailand. On the final day of ARSC2017, Sidik took part in a symposium on the challenges of implementing and sustaining road safety initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.

ARSC2017 brought together over 500 delegates from around the world, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, students, as well as traffic management and vehicle safety representatives. The theme for this year’s conference was “Expanding our horizons”, and focused on a range of issue areas identified in the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety such as road safety management, infrastructure, safe vehicles, user behavior, and post-crash care.

View more photos from the conference here.

1,500 high-quality helmets donated to primary school near busy Vietnamese national highway 
23 October, 2017 – Yen Bai Province, Vietnam

Helmets for Kids  also expanded its road safety education efforts to Yen Bai Province and donated 1,500 high-quality helmets to the school community. The program, which is supported by Johnson & Johnson, celebrated the launch of its sixth year with a ceremony at Au Lau Primary School in Yen Bai Province that was attended by over 400 students, teachers, and staff. All six of the new program schools in Yen Bai Province are located in high-risk and traffic dense areas along National Highways no. 37 and 32C. Pre-implementation surveys revealed that the average student helmet-use rate at these schools is only 31% and the majority of helmets are substandard.

Helmets for Kids will also continue its programming in Gia Lai and Quang Nam Provinces, providing 20 primary schools in the three provinces with 5,100 quality helmets and road safety education throughout the current school year. In addition to donating helmets, the program provides students with education and activities, such as traffic simulations and road awareness training. Teacher trainings occurred earlier this year in all three provinces of the program. 

View more photos from the ceremony here.