PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – November 24, 2022

In September 2023, Heads of State and Government leaders from around the world will gather for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit as part of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. This will be a crucial time to review the current progress of implementing the 2030 SDGs Agenda and how close we are to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Road Safety is one of the key goals under SDG number 3, Good Health and Well Being. In order to achieve the ambitious target of reducing road fatalities and injuries by 50% by 2030, as set out by the World Health Organization, we must work together. We cannot hope to solve this looming global road safety crisis in isolation. The United Nations Secretary-General has appointed a UN Special Envoy for Road Safety to advocate for all road users around the world.

As part of his mission to South-East Asia in November 2022, Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, is participating in the Eco-Safe Driver Dissemination workshop jointly hosted by AIP Foundation, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and VF Corporation in Phnom Penh. UN Special Envoy Jean Todt will be advocating for safer and greener mobility across Cambodia. The Eco-Safe App aims to change drivers’ behavior by providing them with knowledge and skills on defensive driving, fuel efficiency, and vehicle safety, thereby empowering drivers to take on sustainability and safer roads.

In Cambodia, garment and footwear factories employ more than 700,000 workers in factories, the majority of whom are women. Thousands of workers face preventable risks to their health and safety as they commute to and from factories daily, often traveling on overcrowded vehicles that are driven dangerously. By improving driving skills and encouraging safer behavior changes by drivers, we can ensure safer transportation for the workers.

“To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the world relies on civil society organizations like AIP Foundation to drive progress, including through promoting innovation that has a lasting impact, like today. Applications that better equips drivers to be safe on the road provides us with an opportunity to create a safer and more sustainable future.” shares Jean Todt, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety.

Sharing lessons learned for green and safe mobility

Eco-Safe Driving App for smartphones is a preventative tool that has been developed by AIP Foundation in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany’s international development aid agency and VF Corporation. The objectives of the workshop are to share the outcomes and key findings from the Eco-Safe Phase II program and find ways to utilize the training manual and using the Eco-Safe Driving App with stakeholders in the future. The App also aims to draw focus on the fuel consumption of the trucks, encouraging a more eco-friendly and greener outcome for those who use it.

The impact of the first phase of the program benefitted drivers at five factories in Kandal, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang, by equipping them with life-saving safety skills as road users. Beneficiaries received training courses on driving with a focus on how to drive at slower speeds without excessive loads, the importance of efficient braking and regular vehicle maintenance, and how to save fuel thus enabling them to provide a more economical, cost-effective, environment-saving, and safer service. The program was centered around sustainability, training drivers to be safe and more eco-friendly for the future.

Advocating for safer driving behaviors with the Eco-Safe App

Mirjam Sidik, Chief Executive Officer at AIP Foundation, shared, “the overall objectives of the Eco-Safe program are to improve the safe driving behavior of garment & footwear sector transport providers and encourage them to consider utilizing safer vehicle options and to accurately measure fuel savings and impact on driving behavior by creating a built-for-purpose measurement App.”

The Eco-Safe App tracks drivers using GPS signaling to collect data about speed, mileage and fuel consumption, refueling rate, and the driving style of the driver to determine the relative safety of individual drivers and targeted areas for improvement. The back-end view of the App reveals summary data, allowing AIP Foundation staff to evaluate overall changes in behaviors, such as speeding, refueling rates, fuel consumption, and kilometers traveled.

The App itself is supplemented with a two-day training curriculum for drivers which focuses on changing behavior and building skills through experiential learning principles using real case studies and participatory approaches. During the training, drivers receive printed training materials and participate in video presentations, slide show presentations and outdoor simulation activities. The curriculum covers ‘safe driving’ and ‘eco-driving’ topics.

“We are proud to support the Eco-Safe program and the Driving App geared towards creating safer drivers on the road across Cambodia. The data we gathered from the App not only highlights the improvements made in terms of drivers’ behavior but also allows us to ensure that we are taking active steps to safeguard workers on their daily commutes,” shared Jonas Schneider, Regional Director Southeast Asia for VF Corporation.

The program incentivizes drivers to participate with the promise of reduced fuel consumption and therefore cheaper expenses, during the training, drivers are then exposed to environmental awareness as a result of reducing fuel consumption. In turn, the improved driving behavior and skills of drivers mean factory workers have access to a safer public transportation option and can consequently reduce individual transport.