09/10/2023

International cooperation: actions to improve child road safety

"Bases for an integrated management of road safety" is the project approved by the Uruguay-Mexico Joint Cooperation Fund in its V call for proposals. The project, which started on September 26, 2022, is managed for two years by the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez; the National Road Safety Unit (UNASEV) of Uruguay; and the Secretariat of Transportation of the State of Jalisco of Mexico; and works on the implementation of evidence-based policies for child road safety; and on relevant contributions on innovative practices for road safety management.

The project is carried out within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 - 2030, according to the United Nations General Assembly resolution, with the goal of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% in that period of time.

Within the framework of the implementation of evidence-based policies for child road safety, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez leads the technical assistance provided to the government of Jalisco from the perspective of safe school environments and child road safety. UNASEV shares with Mexico the experience of Uruguay in the approach to safe mobility for early childhood, from the regulatory framework, analyzing chapters related to mandatory safety measures, the regulation of school transportation and the control of the use of child restraint systems.

Based on these exchanges, we have worked in an articulated manner with all the actors in the state of Jalisco linked to the subject of child road safety, both at the governmental level as well as the private sector and NGOs, in order to promote evidence to support the initiative of the state of Jalisco to generate a general technical standard for the safe design of school environments in the state of Jalisco. The systematization of this work will be fundamental for other Mexican states or other countries to advance in this normative framework that takes care of children on the safe way to school.

For this reason, a delegation from Uruguay made up of Ma. José Pessano, executive director of Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez and Mathías Silva, Training Manager, accompanied by Carlos Marzor, director of UNASEV, carried out a complete agenda of presentation of Model School Environments for the State of Jalisco, in addition to presenting the primary results of the qualitative and quantitative studies carried out within the framework of the project and presentations to different actors of the Technical Standard for School Environments by the State of Jalisco. The agenda was completed with several trainings to different government actors on child road safety given by the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez.

In December 2023, the Mexican delegation will visit Uruguay to fulfill the counterpart of the project and share the good practices that are key for the State of Jalisco to advance towards a state policy where safe mobility is at the center.