KAMPALA, Uganda - May 8, 2013

The Uganda Helmet Vaccine Initiative (UHVI) organized a “Long Short Walk” with a group of around 100 people in Kampala, Uganda on May 8. The event, supported by the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, called for improved pedestrian safety and highlighted the daily dangers encountered by pedestrians in Uganda’s roadway environment.

The Long Short Walk was attended by boda boda operators (the main target of UHVI’s current campaign), students from Sunrise Primary School, and representatives from Uganda Parliament’s Road Safety Forum, the Uganda Police Force, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Automobile Association of Uganda, and private sector company Total Exploration and Production, among others. Numerous well-known figures also participated in the event, including the Honorable Alice Alaso, Chairperson of the Uganda Parliament Road Safety Forum, John Mutenda, President of FIA Africa, and Collins Mwesigye, Head of Violence and Injury Prevention at the WHO in Uganda.

The Sunrise Primary School band led the group down Jinja Road, perhaps the busiest thoroughfare in Kampala. Carrying Long Short Walk signs and banners, participants passed the Parliament and Police headquarters.

The day prior to the walk, UHVI together with the Boda Boda Association of Uganda (motorcycle taxis) and Makerere University College of Health Sciences submitted a petition to the Parliament of Uganda, calling for improved implementation of the Road Safety Act in Uganda. The Road Safety Act would, among various measures, improve Uganda’s pedestrian safety environment.