17 NOVEMBER 2015, BRASILIA — On Tuesday the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety announced the launch of the “Alliance Empowerment Program,” a capacity building program sponsored by FedEx. It aims to improve the ability of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in road safety around the world to design and implement initiatives that significantly reduce the risk of injury and fatality on the world’s roads.
The announcement was made at an NGO rally held during the 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil. More than 200 representatives were present at the rally, including representatives from NGOs working around the world, ministers, and road safety advocates from the corporate, philanthropic, and multilateral sectors.
The Alliance Empowerment Program will be administered by the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, a coalition organization representing more than 140 NGOs operating in road safety in over 70 countries. The program aims to serve all Alliance-member NGOs and will feature face-to-face training workshops conducted in key regions of the world, webinars, online tool-kits, and mentorship services for NGOs. Training content will focus on key areas for programatic improvement including project management, fundraising and proposal writing, project monitoring and evaluation, communications, and other areas based on NGO’s self-identified weaknesses and interests.
“NGOs have significant potential to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities and advocate for road safety by implementing community initiatives. We want to make sure that they have the necessary skills to meet challenges and are able to respond to the needs they see in their communities.” said Lotte Brondum, Administrative Director of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. “The Alliance Empowerment Program will provide this training to road safety NGOs around the world so that more lives can be saved and we can reach the targets included in the new Sustainable Development Goals.”
Approximately 1.25 million people die on the world’s roads each year, according to the World Health Organization’s newly published Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015. Traffic crashes are the number one killer of young people aged 15-29, and the eighth leading cause of death among all people worldwide. As a result, road safety is increasingly recognized as a major global health issue. Road safety targets were officially included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals adopted at a UN summit held in September.
“The risk of dying on the roads is very real, and families all over world feel the devastating effects of traffic crashes,” stated Tabatha Stephens, Manager, FedEx Global Citizenship. “Thankfully, traffic crashes and their consequences can be significantly reduced through well-designed preventative measures. FedEx recognizes that NGOs play a critical role in promoting and implementing these measures in their communities and we want to support them in reaching their full potential to save lives.”
Currently, the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety is conducting a needs assessment among member NGOs to gather information on area-specific weaknesses, to inform the exact content of the training program. Once implemented, the program will be systematically monitored and evaluated to determine its effectiveness in improving member NGO’s capacity to develop road safety initiatives that produce significant, measurable results.
For more information
on the Alliance Empowerment Program, please see the program backgrounder.
