“Hikmat Road Safety” a success story

Under the patronage of Prime Minister, Samir Rifa’i, Hikmat Road Safety (HRS) recently held a Ceremony in Al Hussein Cultural Center marking its two consecutive years of success and accomplishment.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, Nayef Al Qadi, attended the ceremony; also attending were Manager of Amman City, Ammar Gharaybeh, officials from the Ministry of Education, Traffic Department, and representatives of the civil society institutions. CEOs, VIPS of all the donors and partners from the private sector attended as well and  Al-Nayfeh school students were also among the attendees.
A documentary was played during the meeting, tackling the most important achievements and activities campaigning for safety during the last two years, such as “Ana Multazim” campaign in cooperation with Traffic Department and Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), improving traffic conditions in 200 schools, part of “Safer School Zones” campaign, in coordination with the Traffic Dept., GAM, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Works, and municipalities of the Kingdom provinces, “Safer Streets” campaign, also with the support of Traffic Dept. and GAM by installing signs and wide bumps in streets close to schools, in addition to constructing several playgrounds under the umbrella of “Safer Playgrounds” campaign, upon which GAM commissioned and constructed playgrounds and safe parks for children. The ceremony also included an action plan for 2010, namely, an agreement with Ministry of Education to activate “Safer School Zones” initiative, by training teachers in different areas to manage the surrounding area of the school and to ensure a safer school zone, as well as to keep working on the previous initiatives. The conference also included a multi media presentation show casing the progress of the 200 targeted schools. 
 Certificates and plaques engraved with the expressive phrase “Two Years of Giving” were handed over to the supporters of this constructive initiative, as a token of gratitude and appreciation for their efforts exerted to reach the set goals, clearly manifested through protecting the children of Jordan, and raising road safety standards and awareness of traffic. Compliments were also cited appreciating the positive roles played by Greater Amman Municipality and the Traffic Department for their constant support to HRS.
On his part, Mr. Maher Kaddoura, said “This social solidarity motivates us to exert more efforts for this humane issue through which, owing to its success, we can ease grief and pain inflicted upon the bereaved families; it also reflects the raised awareness on the part of the community toward road safety, And now, we are reaping the crops of the achievements and successes of a two year campaign (HRS), an accomplishment that we could not have realized without the partnership we have built with our sponsors from public, private, and civil society sectors”.
“Today I call on all those who contributed to the success of this campaign, individuals, companies, foundations, organizations, public or private, to continue their material or in kind support; and I hope that we never surrender, or give up our drive, even if we, at times, felt tired. In case we did not meet the desired results in any given month, we must always remember that it is a long way ahead and, of course, full of difficulties, but we are certainly able to make a change by our relentless faith, responsibility, under the slogan “More work..... Less words” he added.
It is worth noting that HRS campaign plays a great role in reducing injuries and the death toll caused by traffic accidents, at a rate of 35% (over two years), noting that the rate in 2009 was 10%. Without any doubt, this improvement was a result of the national strategy set up to reduce traffic accidents, as well as the mutual efforts exerted by the public, and private sectors, and the implementation of a well organized plan by the traffic departments and the concerned agencies through close supervision, control, and raising awareness.
Mr. Kaddoura founded the campaign Hikmat Road Safety to save innocent souls from fatal accidents; it also aims at providing support and assistance to civil society and governmental institutions to reduce injuries and deaths caused by car accidents by the campaign’s programs that help in creating safer zones for the schools and the playgrounds.
HRS focuses on creating safer school and streets in our respective communities by supporting and designing safe architectural models to be executed in cooperation with GAM, Traffic Department, and all concerned municipalities with the traffic issues, and the private sector’s contribution by funding these campaigns financially and in kind.