HANOI, Vietnam – November 21, 2021

On the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the world joined together in commemoration of our lost loved ones across the world. Families all around the world continue to suffer from the silent pandemic of road traffic crashes. We are losing our next generation at an alarming rate, road crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years globally.

In Vietnam, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that more than 6,200 children and youth aged 5-29 were killed in road crashes in 2019. This represents a public health crisis that disproportionately affects young people most. Road upgrades, speed management, as well as enforcement of behavioral risk factors are needed to effectively address this crisis.

In support of the World Day of Remembrance, and advocating for urgent action, the VOV national radio channel and radio channel FM91 aired interviews with the AIP Foundation team leading our newest big data and artificial intelligence program, AI&Me: Empowering youth for safer roads,(Tuổi trẻ và những cung đường biết nói). On such an important global day, we are truly humbled by the national news coverage of our program.

During the 30-minute radio show, AIP Foundation National Program Director, Quy Linh Nguyen shared, “based on the fact that traffic accidents take the lives of young people, AIP Foundation is concerned: can this problem be solved if we separate young people from the decision making process? Creating a platform for youth to raise their voice is extremely important. We must pay attention, listen, and consider solving the concerns of young people as this is necessary for us to ensure that they are safe on roads.”

AIP Foundation’s three-year AI&Me: Empowering youth for safer roads program is supported by Fondation Botnar – a foundation which champions the use of AI and digital technologies to improve the wellbeing of young people in urban environments – as well as the FIA Foundation, Anditi, and iRAP. Together we are developing a ‘youth engagement app’, to offer young people an efficient way to identify and report high-risk road conditions, providing them with a platform for their voices to be heard. Through the app, government officials will receive data as actionable recommendations to make effective and evidence-based road safety interventions.