Asia News

Closing a gap in road laws that currently exclude the requirement for passengers - particularly children - to wear a motorcycle helmet are now being addressed in Cambodia thanks to the leadership of the Global Road Safety Partnership and the support they have provided to the Cambodia Red Cross.

In April, the National Road Safety Committee nominated several individuals including GRSP Cambodia Programme Manager, Mr. Sovann Kong, and Road Safety Manager of the Cambodia Red Cross, Mr. Sophal Khem, to establish a Techincal Working Group.

It happens every day: Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers saving the lives of people who fall victim to road crashes. Khin Khin Shein, who heads the First Aid and Safety Services Division for the Myanmar Red Cross Society tells of a recent first-hand experience when a delegation from Japan visited a rural Myanmar township on an evaluation mission. 

“We came across a lady woman lying on the road,” Shein said. “She had been left there for nearly 45 minutes and nobody was taking care of her because no body knew first aid. When we arrived, we were able to provide proper first aid.”

Some time

Following success in Malaysia, Viet Nam and New Zealand, this year it was the Philippines' turn to win the 4th Intenrational Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) Asia Pacific Award for 2011, granted on 8 March during the Asia Seminar. "We are surprised that iRAP had chosen the Philippines, and we are also very thankful", said Bert Suansing, Executive Director of the Philippine Global Road Safety Partnership (PGRSP).  

The International Road Assessment Program Award for Asia Pacific is given on an annual basis to iRAP "star performers". This year, the competition was tough.

“The Philippines won

Almost one year in, seminar addresses the challenge ahead

We’ve come a long way — but there’s a long road ahead.

That could be one way of summing up the sentiments of the 230 road-safety experts, practitioners, advocates and senior government officials who gathered at the launch of the fifth annual GRSP Asia Road Safety Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand this week.

By Ian Hughes

The annual Global Road Safety Partnership Asia Seminar will be on 7-8 March 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand and will again be followed by an International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) Workshop on 9 March 2012. This year’s seminar theme is “Decade of Action: Time to Act!” The seminar and workshop provide an important opportunity for capacity building, information sharing and networking. This year’s seminar will be run in partnership with the Thailand Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHeath). Register for the seminar and workshop at: www.grspasia.org

The seminar and workshop are