Guide for the organization of activities related to World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, to help individuals and organizations who wish to plan activities and develop support material to commemorate this day.
Here you will find examples of events and activities that could take place. They are presented as ideas, but they would need to be developed to meet the specific objectives of a particular community and country.
GETTING STARTED
There are nine basic steps for planning and preparing for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2020. All the steps are interrelated and may be carried out concurrently. For example, publicizing the day can start as soon as objectives and key messages have been developed, and continue throughout the entire preparation process.
Step 1: Form a working group: members of a working group should be drawn from different sectors, and victims should always be included. The group should identify a facilitator or coordinator. Decisions should be made jointly.
Step 2: Develop the objectives and key messages: the specific theme that is chosen for each World Day offers the opportunity to event organizers for using the annual key message in ways that suit their specific settings and plans. You can find this year’s theme on www.wdor.org.
Key messages for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims can be backed up by relevant data and examples from each country, city, district and community.
Step 3: Obtain political support: Planners should make an effort to get the support of government for activities to promote road safety, and a firm commitment to raise the issue of road traffic injuries higher on the political agenda in a country or city.
Step 4: Expand the partnership: Road traffic crashes can affect everyone. Partnership should be expanded to include representatives from governments – both national and local – businesses, institutions and nongovernmental agencies.
Step 5: Secure funding: The cost of organizing and conducting an event or several events should be estimated and a budget produced. Potential sponsors may be approached and requested to support different items of the budget. For example, the media may fund or provide free publicity.
Step 6: Publicize the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims: The publicity should give brief details about the day, its objectives, the events planned (with their dates, times, places and the contact details of the organizers). Photographs and programmes of past events may be included where possible.
Step 7: Organize activities: Organizers are encouraged to plan for more than one activity, if at all possible. Some examples are:
- Concerts, reading of poems, holding a candle-light vigil for victims, release of pigeons, religious services, marches and processions, launching or unveiling a memorial, planting a tree in a memorial garden, observing a moment of silence, maybe even throughout the country, illuminating special buildings, displaying of images and objects (clothes, shoes) of road traffic victims, poster or essay competitions for schoolchildren and young people, exhibitions, seminars or workshops, impressive speeches, etc.
World Day commemorations present very specific problems: it is important to bear in mind that the place of commemoration must comply with physical distance requirements and all measures recommended by the health authorities during the days leading up to the World Day and on World Day itself, in order to avoid contagion with covid19. Therefore alternative activities will need to be planned.
Step 8: Organize alternative activities:
We recommend/suggest online activities such as:
Creating a personal stories website, inviting entries to Internet-based memorials, creating a campaign on social media, sharing videos with personal stories on social media, organizing a virtual workshop or exhibition, a conference, etc.
Step 9: Evaluate the process: Organizers are encouraged to conduct an evaluation soon after the day. Organizers are urged to keep a record of what they have done for future information and use, including lists of activities and sponsors, timetables and examples of invitations, programmes, press releases and press cuttings.
We encourage you to share your activities with us. Here you have the link to submit your activities: https://worlddayofremembrance.org/#register
Link to full guide is here