04/10/2022

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 initiative will be managed for two years by the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez; the National Road Safety Unit (Unasev) of Uruguay; and the Secretary of Transportation of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. They will work on the implementation of evidence-based policies for child road safety; and on relevant contributions on innovative practices for road safety management.

The launch was attended by the Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation (AUCI), the head of the Uruguay-Mexico Fund, Cecilia Giffuni, and the financial and accounting manager, Rubens Medina; the president of the National Road Safety Agency (Unasev), Alejandro Draper, together with Pablo Caffareli and Martín Scanarotti; Andrés Ruiz, Head of Chancery of the Mexican Embassy in Uruguay; Jorge Hernández, in charge of Cultural Affairs and International Cooperation of the Mexican Embassy; María José Pessano, Executive Director of the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez (FDR); and Federico Tucci, Communications Coordinator.

Mexico was represented virtually by Rodrigo Hernandez, Director of South-South Cooperation and Pacific Alliance; Guadalupe Andrade Montiel, Coordinator of Cooperation Programs with South American countries; Diego Monraz, Secretary of Transportation of the State of Jalisco; and Jonadab Martinez, General Director of Road Safety. Also present were the Director of Street Projects of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works, Rodrigo Guerrero; the General Coordinator of Strategic Projects of the Ministry of Transportation of the State of Jalisco, Saúl Alveano; the person in charge of the Coordination of Social Communication of the Ministry of Transportation of the State of Jalisco, Emiliano Cabral; the Coordinator of the State Council for the Prevention of Accidents - CEPAJ, José Parra. For the NGO, Por Amor abróchalos, Débora Semademi; the General Director of School Transportation of the Jalisco State Transportation Secretariat, Bernardo Santana; the Project Coordinator - Direction of Research and Road Culture of the Jalisco State Transportation Secretariat, Marisa Palacios.

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

The initiative facilitates that technicians, health, transportation, education, legislators, government authorities in general, and Transit Police who work together in the area, have more tools to improve road safety, with the objective of having a safe, healthy and sustainable mobility.

The project, which started last September 26, foresees the development of activities based on two central objectives: implementation of evidence-based policies for child road safety; and relevant contributions on innovative practices for road safety management.

Within the framework of the implementation of evidence-based policies for child road safety, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez will lead the technical assistance to the government of Jalisco from the perspective of safe school environments.

Meanwhile, Unasev will share 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 restraint systems.

Based on these exchanges, a report will be prepared with recommendations to be applied in the short and medium term, which will provide the government of Jalisco with a starting point for the implementation of evidence-based child road safety policies.

Regarding relevant contributions on innovative practices for road safety management, Mexico, through the government of Jalisco, will transfer to Uruguay the methodology of its Accident Rate Map, a multisectoral tool that allows the standardization and validation of relevant information from different public entities, in addition to providing periodic information on critical points.