Arrive Alive preaching road safety

 

Arrive Alive’s Barbara Mwanje

 

By Elvis Basudde

In 2004, a head-on collision between an independent transporter and an overloaded passenger bus killed 42 people in Uganda. The event raised awareness of the risks drivers face on roads in developing countries.

From that tragedy Chevron bore the Arrive Alive programme, a Chevron Health, Environment and Safety initiative, focused on improving an under reported risk facing employees, contractors and their families — road safety.

Chevron entered into a partnership with other private sector leaders and registered Arrive Alive Uganda as a non-governmental, non-profit organisation.

The company was launched during the UN Global Road Safety week in April 2007.

The programme manager of Arrive Alive, Barbara Mwanje, says the urgency for road safety intervention in Uganda is a priority as we hold second place after Ethiopia in the number of fatalities and injuries.

Arrive Alive has implemented programmes in five countries, which include: Guatemala, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Uganda.
Arrive Alive works with a number of partners, including companies both local and international, governmental agencies, international institutions like the World Bank and Non-Governmental Organisations.

She says in the few months of existance, the organisation made significant strides advocating for improved road safety.

They partnered with the British High Commission to import helmets from a non-profit manufacturer in Vietnam and are working with the Uganda National Burea of Standards to develop a helmet standard for Uganda.