PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – 27 August 2020

The USAID Labor Rights in Cambodia (LRIC) project, implemented by Solidarity Center, is supporting a series of leadership workshops for 80 trade union representatives to promote more equitable factory working conditions, including safer commutes for employees. Solidarity Center’s partner, the AIP Foundation, conducted the second workshop today, articulating a vision of safety policies to protect factory workers on the roads as part of the Commuting Safety for Cambodian Workers program. This includes driver training, access to life-saving helmets for workers who commute via motorcycle, free motorcycle safety trainings for all workers, a transition from trucks to passenger vehicles, and the adoption of road safety policies implemented factory-wide. The workshop generated discussions among union leaders, who planned actions to support these outcomes.

AIP Foundation’s social enterprise, Protec, a helmet maker, recently added COVID-19 mask production in its factory for humanitarian assistance. 10,000 medical masks and gloves will be donated to Abou Jaoude Hospital in Beirut after the recent deadly explosion of Ammonium Nitrate.

AIP Foundation has partnered with Toll to launch a new Hauling Safety program in Thailand, aimed at supporting communities in tackling high-risk journeys for students traveling to and from school through quality safety education and equipment for students, parents, and community members.

The Empowering Safety program, implemented by AIP Foundation and supported by the Puma Energy Foundation, will launch in Myanmar this August. The program aims to increase child helmet use, improve driving skills among youth, and promote multi-sectoral advocacy efforts to reduce road crash injuries and fatalities in Yangon and Mandalay, over the next year. This will be a vital first step towards strengthening road safety policies within organizations and communities in order to create a safer road culture for all.

The USAID Labor Rights in Cambodia (LRIC) project, implemented by Solidarity Center, is supporting a series of leadership workshops for 80 trade union representatives to promote more equitable factory working conditions, including safer commutes for employees. Solidarity Center’s partner, the AIP Foundation, conducted the first workshop today, articulating a vision of safety policies to protect factory workers on the roads as part of the Commuting Safety for Cambodian Workers program. This includes driver training; access to life-saving helmets for workers who commute via motorcycle; free motorcycle safety trainings for all workers; a transition from trucks to passenger vehicles; and the adoption of road safety policies implemented factory-wide.  The workshop generated discussions among union leaders, who planned actions to support these outcomes.

Supported by Mercedes Benz Vietnam, AIP Foundation officially launched Phase II of the MobileKids Vietnam program and Safety with Moki Tour, which will bring helmet safety and road crash prevention education to nearly 1,850 children ages 8-10 years old at Chi Lang Primary school, Ward 11, and Hoang Van Thu Primary school, Ward 6, in Go Vap District, Vietnam. The inaugural “kick-off” ceremony took place at Chi Lang Primary School, with representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, Traffic Safety Committee, Go Vap Bureau of Education and Training, and Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, in attendance.

The two-year Slow Zones, Safe Zones speed reduction program in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, which is supported by Fondation Botnar, the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), Nissan Motor Corporation, Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and Kova Paint Company, officially concludes its first phase.

In partnership with local government in Gia Lai Province, AIP Foundation held a closing ceremony to share the program’s first phase results. Stakeholders included representatives from the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Education and Training, representatives of Gia Lai provincial government, and school administrators and parents from Pleiku City.

Safety Delivered, a program implemented by AIP Foundation and supported by The UPS Foundation since 2017, will launch a series of innovative multimedia campaigns, including billboard installations, photo contests, and public service announcements, across primary schools and hospitals in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Thai Nguyen, Vietnam to raise awareness of the importance of helmet use.

Over a three-year period from 2019 to 2022, 30 factories in high-risk provinces, including Phnom Penh, Kandal, and Kampong Speu, in Cambodia, will be targeted with road safety policy advocacy campaigns and the formation of road safety working groups to increase awareness of the importance of commuting safety through the Commuting Safety for Cambodian Workers (CSCW) program. The CSCW program is implemented by AIP Foundation and the Solidarity Center and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Face masks to protect from COVID-19 are to be produced by a Vietnamese social enterprise’s motorcycle helmet factory thanks to a new partnership to save lives and livelihoods by Vietnam-based non-profit AIP Foundation and the FIA Foundation, a global philanthropy promoting sustainable mobility and healthy environments.