On February 2014 the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM) and its partner Eastern Alliance for safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) carried out in Congaz village (Gagauzia) a road safety training “Safe roads for all” as a part of the “Capacity building of CSOs to promote road safety in Moldova” project, sponsored by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (learn more: http://goo.gl/jKaAP7).

During the training, the villagers developed an Action Plan to improve road safety in Congaz. In the given Plan one of the proposals was to promote the use of child restraints. As one of the follow-up actions, the organizers of project (EBRD, ACM, EASST) together with British partner companies Kier and IOSH, found the opportunity to provide assistance to provide assistance in the implementation of this idea and donated to the locals of Congaz about 20 child car seats and boosters, as well as high visibility clothes for farmers, pedestrians and bicycles and sport kits (from Norwich City PDC) for a junior football team of Congaz village.

In this way, the EBRD and EASST continue to support initiatives on road safety in the Republic of Moldova, in cooperation with other multilateral development banks and international organizations within Decade of Action for Road Safety 2010-2020.

The Ceremony of Donation took place on 30 of July 2015, at the Palace of Culture of Congaz, where gathered projects partners and beneficiaries.

At the event, the donor partners were represented by: Mr. Derran Williams from EBRD, Mr. Ian Harper from Iosh, Mr. Alex Hitch from Kier and the Automobile of Moldova team.

“We want you to live a long and enjoyable life and so we have some equipment that we hope will make this possible for you. Safety on the roads is important and we have a saying in the UK, be safe be seen. Having high visibility clothing on to roads or just walking close to them will save lives. Car seats for children- so many vehicle accidents involve cars with children. Using the proper car seats and seatbelts saves lives. If you value your children protect them” addressed Derran Williams to beneficiaries.

The event was also attended by the deputy Governor of Gagauzia, the Mayor of Congaz, the participants of the EBRD training, social assistants, many-children families and very active and cheerful pupils from the sport school of Congaz.

After the Donation Ceremony, the junior football team presented with new sport kits had a big pleasure to play football with the guests from UK.

The project is directed towards improving knowledge and skills of Moldovan Civil Society to enable them to effectively raise awareness about road safety, and in this way, contribute to promoting behavior change of road users (high-visibility, use of child restraints, etc.).

Media coverage:

http://gagauzinfo.md/index.php?newsid=19737

http://gagauzia.md/newsview.php?l=ru&idc=390&id=5971

http://moldovaweek.ru/post?id=aac9badc953db3231943b25420493bef