BOGOTÁ, Colombia - September 13, 2017

Cambodia Country Director Pagna Kim and Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor Roxy Gleeson facilitated a three-day helmet observation training in Bogotá, Colombia with the Touring & Automóvil Club de Colombia. We joined the workshop, which was convened by the FIA Foundation, in order to share our expertise in using video-recorded helmet observation as an evaluation methodology to assess helmet-wearing rates in road safety interventions. Our method was developed in partnership with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the US, and has been implemented across our program countries.

The workshop was a part of a broader commitment of the FIA Foundation to capacity building of automobile clubs in developing and evaluating road safety interventions. With funding through the FIA Road Safety Grant Programme,the Touring & Automóvil Club de Colombia is working on a bicycle helmet safety programcalled ‘To the School by Bike.’ Bogotáhas one of the most extensive bicycle path networks in the world and Alfredo Albornoz, Director General of the Automóvil Club de Colombia, described how the club plans “to distribute helmets to students through partnerships with local schools and will be accompanied by a training program aimed at developing better habits and understanding of the rules of transit.”

We are confident that with the practical training and recommendations provided, our friends in Colombia will be able to use this evaluation methodology to assess their program’s effectiveness and augment their efforts to save children’s lives.