New road safety initiative unveiled to safeguard school children

Aggie Kransnolucka, program manager at FIA Foundation. [Sharon Wanga, Standard] Stakeholders have embarked on a joint safety initiative to enhance road construction for school-going children in Nairobi. The new initiative is spearheaded by Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in partnership with the Automobile Association of Kenya, AMEND, and the Association for Safe International Road Travel(ASIRT). The Safe and Healthy Journey to School project is expected to improve pedestrian walkways and ensure that children walk safely to school amidst the road accident upsurge. Beginning the project at Kayole One Primary School, the stakeholders plan to spread it across schools countrywide to enhance the safety of learners. Speaking while launching the project on Friday, Aggie Kransnolucka, program manager at FIA Foundation explained why the project was of more significance to African children. "Africa is facing the biggest challenges, the highest number of fatalities and injuries, specifically amongst children. So this is the most vulnerable group, the most affected by the high motorization rates, by lack of appropriate infrastructure, by lack of political will very often," said Kransnolucka. Ms.Kransnolucka revealed that the project would require approximately 25,000 US dollars(Sh.3.5m) to enhance learners' safety by significantly reducing the number of fatalities and accidents. She further explained why they chose Kayole One for the start noting its large population of over 3800 pupils and it being surrounded by busy roads. The project has foreseen safety treatments around the school introducing zebra crossing, speed bumps, heat reduction, coal arts, and pedestrian walkways for children and other people's use. Kransnolucka called for financial support from different stakeholders to oversee the project spread across the country. "We need a coalition of different organizations, from civil society, private sector, government agency, and parliament, to advocate, for investment in this area. We need more money That's why we need the government to be on board and understand the importance of these issues," she emphasised. One of the partners from AMEND, a non-governmental organization working across the African continent to reduce road traffic injuries also emphasised the importance of the project. "This is a project that we have implemented in over 10 cities, in 10 countries in Africa. basically what we do is complement the efforts that are done or made by local governments, central government, and the relevant agencies," said Simon Kololo, Tanzania country manager. The partners are working in collaboration with local stakeholders like the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority(KURA) and Kenya Highways Authority(KENHA). He also mentioned the contribution of the community in the whole project; "We came here and did our assessments to identify what are the risk areas, and black spots, where we can improve safety. After collecting the data with our team of civil engineers, including the technical people from the agency KURA. We prepared designs based on the data we had". He expressed the organization's commitment to complementing the efforts of the government in reducing road accidents. Remarking on the learners' road safety, engineer Isaac Gitoho, chair of ASIRT expressed concerns about learners walking to school by themselves exposing themselves to road dangers. "Children of this area walk to school while their parents go to look for work. So these children are on their own to cross the road. We need to teach them so that it is etched in their minds about road safety," Gitoho said. Engineer Gitoho urged "KURA, KENHA, and KERA to carry out post-implementation audits" to enable project success. On his part Timothy Kelly, director of mobility at AA Kenya, pointed out the significance of a collaborative approach in enhancing road safety for school children. "This project showcases how infrastructure improvements can save lives and we must build on this momentum to ensure safety for all children," remarked Kelly. According to data by NTSA in July 2024, over two thousand people lost their lives on Kenyan roads in just six months. NTSA attributed the deaths to a breach of road safety regulations. Similarly, another report by the World Health Organization Africa Region Road Safety Report 2023 shows that Africa accounts for the highest number of road crash fatalities despite a drop globally.

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