Data offers key to advocacy

Data collection and analysis is a core element of the Alliance Advocate training. Without evidence, it is hard to convince decision makers of the need for action.

Advocates used iRAP’s Star Rating for Schools to build their advocacy messages and found that the roads around St Dominic’s School in Nairobi were one or two star rated at different data points. 

What is a star rating?

Star ratings are a system—developed by iRAP based on road inspection data—and provide a simple and objective measure of the level of safety that the road provides for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe. Three stars is the minimum standard recommended by the global road safety community. You can find out more about star ratings in our webinar series Let’s Get Minimum Three-Star Roads by 2020.

iRAP estimates that every incremental increase in star rating on a road, reduces road deaths and injuries by 50%.

iRAP have also developed Star Rating for Schools, a version of the star rating system designed for school zones. 

How did the Alliance Advocates use Star Rating for Schools?

1. In advance of the Alliance Advocate training, focus groups were held at the school with children, teachers, and other school stakeholders. These focus groups helped to identify information such as:
   • How far children are travelling to school
   • what modes of transport they are using
   • What the peak times are around the school
   • The presence of crossing guards or other
2.  In groups, the Alliance Advocates collected data at five points around the school. Using a questionnaire, they mapped the features of the road and the traffic including:
   • Land use around the school (rural, commercial, industrial, residential)
   • Road condition and composition
   • Presence of sidewalks, number of lanes, and whether the lanes are divided
   • Signage and road markings
   • Any safety features such as crossings
3. The data was input into iRAP’s database. This generated the star rating for the road at each data point.
4. The Alliance Advocates recommended improvements. These recommendations were input into the database to see how they affected the star rating.
5. The difference between the existing star rating and the star rating including proposed improvements enabled the Alliance Advocates to form evidence-based recommendations to bring to decision makers.

What next?

The Alliance Advocates are now identifying high-risk schools in their own countries to replicate the project that they completed in Nairobi. They will follow the same process of data collection and analysis and take their findings to decision makers to advocate for improvements around the targeted schools. The target is for 20 schools across Africa to be brought up to a minimum three star rating by 2018.

More information

Read more about iRAP HERE.

Read more about Star Rating for Schools HERE.

Access the Alliance’s webinar series on minimum three-star roads HERE.