Child Protection Cambodia Project #15183

Protect Cambodian Children from Brain Injury

by AIP Foundation

Project Report | Feb 5, 2021
Supporting educators and the arts for child safety

By Bohesa Won | Business Development and Partnership Consultant

The road crash crisis is affected by numerous factors, such as road user behavior, road safety management, the constructed environment, and the accessibility of safe vehicles and protective equipment. In Cambodia, AIP Foundation delivers quality helmets to children located in at-risk schools, often in dangerous traffic environments that endanger students on their way to school every day—building up their road safety knowledge through in-class education and promoting their access to protective equipment to reduce their risk of serious head injury or death during every ride. In light of the complexity of improving road safety for vulnerable communities, the solutions that partners invest their time, funding, and energy in must span sectors and focus areas. These solutions include improving road safety education for students and their teachers, sharing key informative messages to the community through creative forms and media, and working with local partners to encourage safer behaviors in their community.

In Cambodia, AIP Foundation has spent the past several months empowering local educators, building up road safety leaders among youth in our communities, and working with schools to paint educational and awareness-raising murals to encourage students to wear a helmet each and every time they ride a bicycle or motorcycle.

Together, we can work to ensure local communities and partners have access to the resources, knowledge, and skills they need to protect themselves and their loved ones on their journeys on the roads. Read on to learn more about what we have achieved to promote child helmet safety to save lives and prevent injuries in Cambodia over these past few months.

AIP Foundation distributing a certificate of completion following participation in road safety training to University educator in Phnom Penh.

AIP Foundation continues to build the next generation of road safety leaders

December 30, 2020

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—December 28 – 30, 2020

Young people are very vulnerable road users. In 2018, 45% of all road fatalities in Cambodia were road users between the ages of 15 – 29. This vulnerability is echoed across the globe, with road crashes the leading cause of early death and years spent living with disabilities for people aged 10 – 24 in 2020. These statistics indicate an immediate need for intervention to instill better road user behavior and practices in young people.

To ensure the sustainability of the Safety Delivered program, AIP Foundation conducted a second Training of Trainers (ToT) program in COVID-19 prevention context with only 20 faculty members at 20 universities in Phnom Penh. Faculty members and other relevant participants received technical skills, materials and knowledge to pass down to their students, and support to serve as positive road safety role models on campus. Participants were able to listen to and learn from previous trainees who have implemented the training activities at their workplaces.

Through the Safety Delivered program, AIP Foundation is working to promote better road safety practices with young people. “Youth are the most vulnerable demographic on our roads. Safety Delivered program intends to create a change in road safety attitude. That begins by empowering youth to teach themselves and their peers, especially at university. AIP Foundation will give the tools and technical advice so that students can lead this generational change,” Mr. Pagna Kim, Country Director of AIP Foundation in Cambodia.

Read the press release here. For more pictures, please click here.

Educators from O Ambel Primary School brainstorming ideas on encouraging better road safety practices amongst their students.

Teachers take a vital role in road safety education for students

January 19, 2021

BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia – January 19, 2021

Teachers are an important part of raising the next generation. With their encouragement and the training provided, they will be a crucial part of making roads in Cambodia safer for youth. The Helmet for Families program, supported by Manulife Cambodia, hosted a workshop for teachers to develop road safety educational materials at O Ambel Primary School.During the workshop, facilitated by AIP Foundation, work plans, lesson plans, and an array of educational materials were produced in close consultation with teachers.

More than 30 teachers took an active role in outlining methods to encourage safer commuting habits for their students including wearing helmets properly and practicing defensive road use like being aware of surroundings and staying alert. Drawing on the experience of teachers, teachers shared their experience and ideas on how to best communicate these materials with students.

The Helmet for Families program, focuses on educating vulnerable children, their parents, and teachers to promote comprehensive education about the risk of driving a motorbike or using a bicycle without a helmet. In addition to helmets, teachers have also received information regarding other risk factors on the road such as speeding, distracted driving, drink driving, and other tips to avoid road crashes.

To view more photos from the event, please click here.

Volunteer from Manulife Cambodia painting on O Ambel Primary School's wall.

Public cultural art for social change in Cambodia

January 20, 2021

BANTHEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia–January 20, 2021Creative expression through public art is more than just claiming space, it’s a visual expression that can inspire social change. Volunteers from Manulife Cambodia, students, teachers, and AIP Foundation painted murals and the walls at O Ambel Primary School as part of the Helmets for Families program.

Colorful murals were painted around the school’s walls to encourage safer road use practices like staying alert when crossing streets, wearing a helmet while riding on a motorbike or bicycle, and checking for proper helmet use. Mr. Piseth Im, Program Manager for the Helmets for Families program, shared, “This is a great opportunity for all of us to create visual reminders for students and the wider community to prioritize safety first.”

The Helmets for Families program focuses on increasing helmet use and road safety knowledge of students, teachers, and parents at target schools and raising awareness in surrounding communities like O Ambel Primary School where helmet-wearing rates are low, yet road deaths are high.

To view more photos from the event, please click here.

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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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