HANOI, Vietnam – August 4, 2023

Throughout the 2019 – 2020 school year, nearly 20 million students attended over 38,000 schools in Vietnam. Alarmingly, traffic speeds around schools frequently and significantly exceed internationally recommended school zones’ speed limits. To safeguard the lives of young students on their journeys to school, AIP Foundation has developed theSafe School Zones Guide (SSZ Guide). ThisSSZ Guideis a reliable blueprint to address on a larger scale the safe mobility issue around schools across the country. This program is carried out in partnership with the FIA Foundation and the Ministry of Transport.

Following the successful pilot of theSafe School Zones Guideat three school locations in Hanoi, Nghe An, and Soc Trang provinces – representing three geographic regions in Vietnam – from October to December 2022, a technical workshop was held with key government partners, including the Ministry of Transport, and the University of Transport and Communication and the special participation of the National Traffic Safety Committee and UNICEF. The objective of the technical workshop was to collect feedback and comments from the government as the second version of theSSZ Guideis developed.

Overall, government officials appreciated the content of the guide and gave their feedback to make minor adjustments to the models in the Guide to ensure it is more practical within the Vietnam context.

“Thanks to the incredible and tireless efforts of AIP Foundation, the National Traffic Safety Committee, and the Ministry of Transport, countless lives can potentially be saved, and we hope for and encourage the use of theSafe School Zones Guideat all levels throughout the country. This guide is a vital stepping-stone on the local, national, and ultimately, global journey towards reducing road crashes, specifically for our young road users, ensuring their safety as they make their own journeys into life,” shared Agnieszka Krasnolucka, Programmes Director at the FIA Foundation.

Based on the encouraging results of the pilot study as well as the feedback from the government, theSSZ Guidewill be scaled up to build the evidence base to support legislation establishing a legal school zone definition in Vietnam – which would require all school zone developments to meet a minimum safety standard aligned with the parameters of theSSZ Guide.

“Road crashes are the number one killer of young people worldwide. Youth are tired of not being a part of the equation. This year, youth all around the world are joining the 1.8 billion Youth for Change movement. TheSafe School Zones Guideis a clear example of decisive action that can be taken to ensure that students in Vietnam are able to access their education safely,” shares Phong Le, AIP Foundation Country Manager for Vietnam.\n