"Globally, road crashes are the number one killer of young people aged 10-24."
News release
Zenani Campaign
For immediate release: 17 May 2012
Didier Drogba onside for Zenani Mandela Campaign
Chelsea FC and Ivory Coast star striker Didier Drogba has today (17) given his support to the Zenani Campaign to save children’s lives on the roads worldwide.
Pledging support for the Zenani Campaign, Drogba said he wanted to help the family in their call to improve road safety for children particularly in developing countries. The Ivory Coast national team captain said he had seen the problem first-hand in Africa, where more children aged 5-14 are killed on the roads than from diseases such as HIV/AIDS or Malaria. Taking time out from a hectic schedule ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final, Drogba took part in a photo-shoot for the campaign.
Didier Drogba said: “I support the Zenani Campaign because far too many children are being killed on the roads. This is a very important campaign. We need action now to save lives.”
Drogba is a close friend of the Mandela family, meeting Nelson Mandela, the family and his great-granddaughter Zenani, when he was in South Africa in 2009. He has been in regular contact with the family since. The campaign is a ‘Mandela Day’ initiative in honour of Nelson Mandela’s birthday and is part of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety.
It has been led by Zenani’s mother and grandmother, Zoleka and Zindzi Mandela and has been established by the Road Safety Fund and the Make Roads Safe campaign.
The global campaign calls for a range of measures to protect children including: investment in safe footpaths, cycle-ways and crossings on streets with lower speed limits particularly near schools; proper enforced legislation for child seats and seatbelts around the world, and tougher action to prevent drink driving and speeding; and better helmet protection for children in countries where motorcycles are the main mode of transport.
Members of the public around the world are being encouraged wear the Zenani wristband and to join the call for improved protection to save children’s lives on the roads worldwide. Globally, road crashes are the number one killer of young people aged 10-24.
A range of high profile figures have backed the Zenani Campaign since it was launched at the beginning of May 2012. They include supermodel Naomi Campbell, sprinter Asafa Powell and members of the Jamaican Olympic team, F1 stars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Notes to editors
Photos of Didier Drogba supporting the Zenani Campaign: http://www.flickr.com/photos/makeroadssafe/7214822938/in/photostream
The Zenani Campaign was launched in New York at the beginning of May 2012 by Zindzi and Zoleka Mandela and Mayor Michael Bloomberg at an event for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety hosted by the Road Safety Fund.
Zenani Campaign: http://www.decadeofaction.org/zenani
The Road Safety Fund has been created as the new global fund for road safety to support the implementation of the United Nations' Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. Funds are directed from a range of donors – companies, governments, philanthropies and the public – to support road injury prevention programmes in countries and communities working to defeat this growing epidemic of road death and injury. Visit: http://www.roadsafetyfund.org
The Make Roads Safe campaign has been calling for action by the international community to stop the daily tragedy of thousands of preventable deaths and injuries on the world’s roads. Visit http://www.makeroadssafe.org
For Mandela Day, visit http://www.mandeladay.com
Contact:
Avi Silverman, +447967229374 a.silverman@decadeofaction.org
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