What You Need to Know About Our Current Initiative

At Safe Transport and Survivors Support Uganda (STASSU), we are currently engaged in an 18-month project titled “Mitigating Road Fatalities and Injuries Among Children and Youth.” This project officially commenced on March 1, 2023, with the overarching goal of reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries among schoolchildren and young individuals aged 5 to 30 in Uganda. Our primary focus revolves around enhancing awareness regarding risk factors, implementing effective speed management measures, and advocating for the creation of safe school zones.

Our belief is that achieving these objectives necessitates strengthening road safety legislation through the promotion of legal revisions, cohesive policy reforms, the adoption of road safety ordinances (city laws), rigorous enforcement, public awareness campaigns, and the implementation of safe school zones. We aim to influence behavioral changes among road users, including drivers, community members, schoolchildren, and youth, among others.

Our project aligns closely with the draft National Road Safety Action Plan, specifically addressing Pillar No. 4, “Safe Road Users,” and Action Intervention 4.4, “Enhancing Efforts to Address Overspeeding and Establish Appropriate Speed Limits.” We prioritize a 30km/h speed limit in urban areas, densely populated zones, and school zones. Furthermore, our project aligns with Uganda’s Third National Development Plan (NDP III), supports the implementation of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, and contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Our Vision for Achievement

Through this initiative, HOVITA is advocating for the formulation of policies, guidelines, and regulations aimed at establishing and implementing Safe School Zones across Uganda by 2024. Our objective is to ensure that these formulated policies and regulations are disseminated to all stakeholders involved in their implementation by the same year.

Additionally, we are advocating for the establishment of a national road safety school community platform, focusing on the ongoing advocacy for children’s safety through the enforcement and adherence to traffic rules in Uganda, also to be realized by 2024.

Under the framework of this project, HOVITA conducted a comprehensive review of global best practices pertaining to policy formulation, the implementation of safe school zones, and the reduction of the impact of road accidents on school-going children. This review highlighted the positive impact of establishing such school zones on reducing the risk and exposure of schoolchildren to road accidents in the countries covered by the desk review. The report resulting from this review was officially launched by the Minister of State for Transport, Fred Byamukama, on July 27, 2023, at Hotel Africana, Kampala.