3D zebra crossing outside of a school in Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province. — Photo courtesy of AIP Foundation

PLEIKU CITY — AIP Foundation and Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee on Monday hosted a celebration ceremony to mark the achievements of the Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme, a local initiative with global recognition.

Representatives from the National Traffic Safety Committee, and the Pleiku’s People Committee were also present.

The Slow Zones, Safe Zones (SZSZ) programme aims to improve the safety of students’ journeys to and from schools. As part of the Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge, the programme is supported by Fondation Botnar, the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Launched in 2018, after five years, the SZSZ programme already benefited 130,492 direct beneficiaries and 16,189,096 indirect beneficiaries that were reached.

Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals global agenda and the need to #rethinkmobility, SZSZ is increasingly encouraging students and their families to use sustainable means of transport - paving the way for healthier and greener cities as well as promoting safe and sustainable mobility. At its heart, the work that started in Pleiku City is a model that can be replicated both in national and global contexts to safeguard children around the world.

“The Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme has gained global recognition by addressing local road safety challenges in Pleiku and catalysing practical and innovative evidence-based interventions through holistic improvement of school zone safety while promoting sustainable mobility and championing meaningful youth participation,” Kim Beng Lua, Senior Officer at the Global Road Safety Partnership, said.

Starting with two pilot schools in Pleiku City in the Central Highlands region of Việt Nam, the programme ended up impacting 31 primary schools in the city, with 71 per cent of them getting the safest rating of 5 stars (Star Rating for Schools, SR4S, iRAP).

Based on the programme results, Gia Lai Province's authorities issued a legal document regulating speed around school zones at 30km/h on city roads or 40km/h on national roads, and calling for Pleiku City to allocate funds from the city’s budget to install road modifications in school zones.

The legal document represents a landmark step towards defining and securing safer school zones throughout Việt Nam, demonstrating the government’s heightened commitment to protecting children on the roads and the growing potential for Pleiku City to serve as a model city for safe school zones nationwide.

In addition, Gia Lai authorities planned to upgrade 56 schools across provincial roads and completed improvements around school zones at 12 schools so far.

The closing workshop reviewing the five years of Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme held in Pleiku City on Thursday. — Photo courtesy of AIP Foundation

“We are proud to celebrate five years of impact of the Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme safeguarding young students on their way to and from school. The successful achievements of the program pave the way for long-term sustainable changes across Pleiku City and for Việt Nam,” Eva Moldovanyi, Programme Manager at Fondation Botnar, remarked.

The programme also resulted in the approval of the first Traffic Safety E-curriculum by Ministry of Education and Training, to be used as a reference for integrated teaching and activities on traffic safety education in the primary school system nationwide.

The national and local governments have been awarded with two international awards: The Prince Michael International Road Traffic Safety Award 2020 for great contribution to the improvement of road safety around the world, and the International Vision Zero for Youth Leadership Award 2022 for noteworthy road safety practices that can inspire other cities to take bold steps to reach zero traffic deaths among children and youth in their communities. — VNS