Walk wIth me
LED BY oliva nalwadda from uganda
Children of a school-going age pay the highest price for mobility on Uganda's roads. The journey of these students to and from school accounts for >50% of all child pedestrian deaths.
The "Walk with me: Healthier and Greener Journeys to School" project sought to promote active mobility among children in Mbale City, Uganda. The project helped empower children to become safe road users, national advocates for safer roads, and active mobility champions with a keen focus on walkability. The project implemented a multi-sectoral approach that merged the education, health, and transport sectors to ensure a sustainable and holistic approach to promoting safe walkable journeys to school.
Road safety education efforts were conducted in three schools through the road safety education curriculum. The project introduced a walk-with-me 'buddy system' to promote walkability by increasing real and perceived safety on the road. Initiatives for mass awareness, such as radio talk shows and community dialogues 'Kimeeza' were also conducted.
Photo from Full Time Explorer Blog
ABOUT THE PROJECT LEAD
Oliva is a researcher, public health advocate, and road safety champion with over 8 years of experience in designing and leading local actions geared towards youth empowerment in road safety promotion. She is the founder of Uzima Ari Uganda, an organisation currently fast-tracking the realisation of SDGs 3, 4, and 13. Oliva also currently serves as a Youth Leadership Board Member of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.
"I am inspired by the desire to create an equal and livable world for all with children, women, and youth at the centre of development."
IMPACT SNAPSHOTS
Designed the first-ever disability-friendly, youth-led road safety curriculum, which has been adopted by the District Education Offices in Eastern Uganda to foster road safety awareness.1
Trained 45 children with disabilities as road safety champions, who subsequently engaged over 600 peers through assemblies and in-class sessions.1
Onboarded 60 boda boda champions to promote improved behavioural change among a high-risk category of road users.1
Facilitated environmental modifications in school zones by conducting hotspot mapping, which led to partnerships with the Uganda National Road Authority, UNICEF, and the World Bank to secure funding for road safety improvements along the Mbale-Tororo road corridor.
