5.2 Advocate for Child Injury Prevention
ChildSafe continued to advocate that child injury prevention is integrated into national child health agendas , policies , and practices . This reporting period saw the creation and strengthening of various strategic and meaningful partnerships towards influencing and implementing policies affecting child injury prevention strategies . Some examples of the dedicated advocacy efforts by the ChildSafe team include :
• In celebration of the United Nations ’ s Global Road Safety Week , ChildSafe held its first Safe School Zone colloquium in May 2023 at the Kirstenbosch Gardens . The Western Cape Minister of Urban Mobility , Mr Ricardo Mackenzie , Member of the Mayoral Committee , Urban Mobility , Cllr . Rob Quinas , Mr . Brian Jeftha , Western Cape Education Department , Deputy Chief Education Specialist , Dr . Dirk von Delft , former Head of Trauma Red Cross Hospital and the FIA ’ s Executive Director , Mr . Saul Billingsley , were all present and took part in the panel discussions .
At this event , a draft of the Safe School Zone Toolkit was presented for inputs by the stakeholders and participants . These inputs were gathered for consideration , and incorporation into the final document . Advocating for a 30 km / h zone around schools was one part of the ongoing discussions . This initiative has fostered and strengthened collaboration among stakeholders and promoted safer school environments . A FIA press release about the event emphasized the urgent action needed to protect children on South African roads .
23