KARACHI: As per the World Health Organization’s Road Safety Report, ‘Road Traffic Injuries (RTI)’ is the 8th leading cause of deaths across the world and the cost of road traffic injuries account for 3% of GDP’s for developing countries like Pakistan.
Shell believes it can play a role in the vision set out by the National Road Safety Strategy 2018-2030 “to create a safe and sustainable road network across Pakistan as part of the Government’s commitment to bring better quality of life to the people of the country”.
Road safety education in schools is one potential way of reducing the number of deaths or injuries amongst road users. It can play an important role in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of children and young people ensuring they become responsible drivers, passengers and pedestrians. To achieve this objective, a memorandum of understanding was signed with CARE Foundation in Lahore to inculcate road safety awareness amongst the future generation of our road users.
Shell Pakistan Limited is working towards incorporating Road Safety education in the government approved curriculum across the nation. CARE Foundation coming on-board this mission is the first step.
The agreement between CARE Foundation and Shell Pakistan Limited stipulates that the road safety book will form part of the curriculum for the schools of CARE Foundation in the coming school year for grade six and seven. The book, produced by Shell Pakistan for young minds; through content developers and publishers, is a narrative based learning, on observations of unsafe behaviors by people on the road.
“Shell prioritises the safety of the people it works with and the space in which it operates, making road safety one of our key focus areas. Shell Pakistan works with great commitment to achieve road safety in a larger context by collaborating with partners and communities, we work towards building a robust safety culture on the road and beyond our operations.” shared Haroon Rashid, Chief Executive and Managing Director of Shell Pakistan, at the ceremony.
“I hope that this partnership will raise the much needed awareness on road safety. Disorderly traffic is a serious risk to individuals commuting daily on the road. I believe that this initiative would have a tangible impact towards achieving the mission of making our roads safer.” said Seema Aziz, Chief Executive Officer, CARE Foundation at the event.
The long-term vision is to advocate road safety education and include as part of the curriculum of the country’s educational institutions, over the coming years. News Desk
