Vietnam Project 2000 road safety partnership has been officially launched in Hanoi by the World Health Organization (WHO) Vietnam and AIP Foundation.

The initiative, to help the Government of Vietnam in strengthening road safety for children and young people, is supported by an additional 15 partners.

The Partnership’s shared vision is to reduce the tragic loss of children and young people who die every year on the country’s roads from more than 2,000 deaths – about five deaths every day – to zero.

“These tragedies are not inevitable though; they are preventable,” said Founder and President of AIP Foundation Mr Greig F Craft.

“AIP Foundation is proud to collaborate with WHO Vietnam and other partners, and together we are committed to protecting our children, safeguarding our communities and building a safer future for all, where no needless lives on the roads are lost.”

The specific challenges that the Partnership will focus on include:

  • Motorcycle safety: ensuring all children are wearing safe, affordable, and certified helmets.
  • Safe school zones: working towards ensuring safe driving, with supportive and safe infrastructure, around schools, especially at busy ‘drop-off’ and ‘pick-up’ times.
  • Child Restraint Systems: support implementation of new laws coming into effect on 1 January 2026 requiring children in vehicles to be secured in a safe child restraint system.

The Partnership is a joint initiative of WHO, as the lead UN agency on global road safety, and the AIP Foundation, with funding support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety and the FIA Foundation, with the other founding partners including UNICEF, UNESCO, the embassies of Japan and Sweden, the International Road Assessment Programme, Vital Strategies, the Global Road Safety Partnership, HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, Protec, Automobile Association Viet Nam, Viet Nam Association for Protection of Children’s Rights, Center for Injury Policy and Prevention Research of Hanoi University of Public Health, and the Academy of Construction Strategy and Cadres Training.