As part of it ongoing 'safer kids.. Safer Oman' campaign

Jalaan Bani Bu Hassan - October 7th 2013

Oman Road Safety Association in partnership with Jalaan Private School, Bicycles Risk and Bank Sohar launched the educational traffic village in Jalaan Private School on Sunday, October 6, 2013 under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hamed bin Rashid Al Miqbali, Wali of Jalaan Bani Bu Hassan, in the presence of officials from the government and private sector and Bank Sohar clients and employees.

This event comes as part of Oman Road Safety Association's ongoing 'Safer kids.. Safer Oman..' road safety campaign. The Association held its awareness activities in Jalaan with the aim to raise children's and their families' awareness when using roads as pedestrians, cyclists, or even as passengers in vehicles. The activities included the Traffic Educational Village, awareness talks about the dangers of speeding and the importance of seat belts and child's restraints as well as the dangers of using mobile phones and the importance of adhering traffic rules and regulations, and distributing flyers to different road users.

Amor bin Nasser Al Matani, Board Member of the Oman Road Safety Association commented saying: "We are actively promoting 'Safer Kids.. Safer Oman' campaign using the Traffic Educational Village that helps in demonstrating the right road safety practices to children and their parents. We are trying to reach all the citizens in Oman. 'Safer Kids.. Safer Oman..' is aiming to help in showing the general public the best ways in road safety based on global latest practices to keep our children safe while using roads. I thank Bank Sohar for their continuous support."

It is worth mentioning that this event is one of many held within 'Safer kids.. Safer Oman..'  campaign which was launched this year and included a series of events and activities aimed at different regions of the Sultanate of Oman, where the well-know national cyclist Khalid bin Mohammed Al Shabibi in cooperation with Oman Road Safety Association commenced a awareness tour on board of his bike and visited selected areas of the Sultanate starting from Al Buraimi through Sohar, Khaboura and Barka and ending in Muscat where the village was opened traffic in Muscat City Centre early this year.

Jalaan Private School will be coordinating visits of students from other governmental and private schools of Jalaan for the road safety awareness through the use of the traffic educational village.

Mohammed Al Salmi, Director of Jalaan Private School commented saying: "The school has made great strides in traffic safety, where we consider our students traffic safety as priority. The road environment around the school was adapted to create an appropriate safe atmosphere to students, their parents, drivers and other road users. We also adopted a system of school bus that provides safety during dropping, transporting and picking students to and from school with a supervisor in each bus. Jalaan Private School also regularly organizes events and practical applications of road safety inside and outside the school. This includes adding road safety curriculum in our educational syllabus plan."

Said bin Nasser Al Matani, founder of "Risks of Bicycles" Campaign delivered a road safety lecture about the role that the Ministry of Education is playing towards students traffic safety among the basic principles of security and safety inside and around the school bus, and while crossing the streets safely and correctly. Al Matani also spoke about risks of using bicycles and the safety gear necessary for bicycles riders to wear while using roads. He provided advice and guidance to the audience. He talked about the continuity of the project in the next phase in all regions of the Sultanate and its activation through different media for the public interest and educating students in schools through lectures, seminars and competitions.

Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), a nongovernmental organisation registered under the Ministry of Social Development. The key activities of the Association include advocacy and awareness, training, capacity building and supporting research in the field of road safety. It also includes carrying out sustainable projects in the field of road safety in partnership with government, non governmental and private sector organisations.

This partnership represents one of Oman Road Safety Association's (ORSA) strategies to partner with fellow teams to advocate for traffic safety and communicate the importance of awareness campaigns.

-Ends-

About Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA):
Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA) was registered at the Ministry of Social Development on 15th March 2010 and is under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Kamil Fahad Al-Said, Assistant Secretary General - Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for Council of Ministers. The Association's key activities involve training and capacity building, organising walks, and raising awareness campaigns targeting the general public as well as carrying out sustainable projects and surveys on road safety in partnership with a number of organisations.

The role of the Sultanate in activating the United Nations' Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 - 2020, officially launched on 5th March 2010, was to continue to develop its national plan to coordinate and implement activities supporting road safety at local, regional and international levels. The Decade of Action for Road Safety offers a common road map for reaching the ambitious goal of reducing road traffic fatalities globally by 50 per cent. The implementation plan is guided by key pillars which include better road-safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road-user behaviour and better post-crash care.

The Government of Oman has taken the lead to initiate the concept of road safety at the United Nations (UN) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Government also introduced and worked to get unanimous endorsement from the general assembly of six UN Road Safety Resolutions of which the sixth UN Resolution was on Decade of Action for Road Safety.

For more information, please contact:
Shaza Taher
TRACCS Public Relations
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Telephone: +968 24 649-099
Fax: +968 24 649-088
Email: shaza.taher@traccs.net

© Press Release 2013