Addressing the risks faced by Azerbaijani street children when it comes to road safety
When we conducted our groundbreaking study with Partnership for Road Safety in 2017 we found that 1 in 4 homeless children in Georgia had been involved in some sort of road traffic incident in their lives. We also found that a lot of these children had travelled from neighbouring Azerbaijan.
For this reason, we are now supporting our EASST partners, HAYAT NGO and AMAK (National Automobile Club of Azerbaijan), to expand the study into the risks faced by Azerbaijani street children when it comes to road safety, and how these children can be best protected.
Since June 2019 HAYAT and AMAK have been working with children’s shelters, boarding houses, group homes and schools for IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) to survey over 400 children and 50 social workers to establish the exposure to risk and the main threats to the children’s safety on the roads in Baku.
During each visit, HAYAT and AMAK organised a series of “know how” sessions in partnership with the State Road Police – providing a space for the children to share the concerns and challenges they face on a daily basis when it comes road safety. The sessions also included videos based on the content of the EASST Road Safety Education Pack to raise awareness and help the children build skills and knowledge they need to keep safe.
Special sessions were also held for teachers and social workers, who all received a copy of the EASST Road Safety Education Pack and were advised on the best methods for teaching road safety to vulnerable children so that they can continue to keep children safe as they come through the system.
HAYAT and AMAK will now analyse the survey results and work to address the findings using a safe system approach. They will work with the State Road Police to target enforcement around key risk factors at identified black-spots, and present relevant authorities and stakeholders with a set of recommendations aimed at creating a safe road environment for all children in the city.
