Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the road infrastructure unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp had taken the cudgels for children in guaranteeing their safety on the road through its support to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) under the United Nations’ Second Decade of Action for Road Safety.

MPTC is a signatory to a multi-year agreement with the child rights agency to help support 100 schools in high-risk areas, reaching potentially 20,000 children.

Studies by the UP-affiliated National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) show that in the Philippines, around 38 children die every day due to road traffic injuries.

This is consistent with the global statistic that injury and violence have become a major cause of death in children under the age of 18. It is estimated that around 2,270 children are dying every day as a result of unintentional injuries.

MPTC, including its subsidiaries, will support UNICEF’s work over the next three years to scale up models for improved road safety and safe journeys for school children in high-risk areas, with road safety awareness, health systems strengthening, child-responsive urban planning, and enhanced child rights principles in business practices, in support of global targets to reduce road traffic fatalities by fifty percent (50 percent) by 2030.

The project will also contribute to strengthening data on child road injuries, rallying advocates, enhancing laws and policies, as well as improving attitudes and practices that promote safety, in support of UNICEF’s existing Child Road Traffic Injury Prevention Program (CRTIP).

Child rights awareness

MPTC will also embed child rights principles in its business practices.

“Children have the right to safe and healthy environments. Road traffic injuries and deaths are preventable. Despite alarming statistics, they often remain overlooked in public health policies. MPTC’s support is an important contribution to preventing road traffic fatalities with concerted efforts across sectors and campaigns that educate motorists, children, families, and communities about risks and how to prevent them,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov says.

“We look forward to this cooperative program with UNICEF’s child road safety campaign, as it is aligned with our advocacy on road safety for all motorists and passengers using our tollways in the country – and even in the ASEAN,” the company said.

“Road safety is of paramount importance to us at our Tollways Group, and such concerns are integrated into our infrastructure building program and our operations,” MPTC added.