A request from Suwon City in South Korea for assistance to develop its community safety programs, and examine the preparedness of Suwon City for ‘Safe Community’ accreditation in early 2002, was met with a suggestion from Professor Leif Svanstrom, Director of the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Centre for Community Safety Promotion, that Latrobe City would be able to help.
His suggestion resulted in an invitation from Safe City Suwon’s, Professor Joon Pil Cho to Latrobe City’s Community Safety Planner and Chair of the Victorian Safe Communities Network, Henk Harberts, to visit in mid December 2000. Suwon City arranged and funded the week-long visit.
Henk Harberts presented a session on Latrobe City’s program to about 30 staff from Ajou University Medical Faculty, Safe Suwon and Suwon City Community Health personnel, and visited the Safe Suwon Injury Research Centre at Ajou University.
His visit included meetings and tours of the Safe Suwon Administration complex, a community health centre, a community neighbourhood centre, a housing estate to participate in an activity session with older residents, and the Suwon City Traffic Safety School.
Visits were also made to Mugunghwa Electronics, a manufacturer of electronic appliances which employs around 135 staff, of which 100 have a disability; and an Alcohol and Drug Centre, which operates a day program for addicts of various substances.
He said that Latrobe City enjoyed a global reputation for reducing injury and promoting safety in the community through the ‘Safe Community’ approach.
“We can do well to extend the knowledge of how we learnt from other communities, practitioners and researchers, and how we can share this with our immediate neighbours in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia and even throughout Asia,” Henk Harberts said. “I believe that the opportunity to share the experiences of Latrobe with Suwon was a significant endorsement of what the global network is all about.
“A very important aspect is to ensure that we implement effective and efficient interventions – something that we can only do from following a process. Other communities have ‘been there and done that’.
“The WHO ‘Safe Community’ agreement we signed in 1996 states that we spread our experiences and contribute to a ‘safer’ community for all.
“The challenges for a Safe Suwon were focused on determining where injuries occur and then to implement a range of community programs to address these. It is a challenge they have taken in their stride.
“The Suwon City community, and especially the individuals associated with WHO Safe Community affiliation, are to be congratulated for their effort and determination in addressing the issues associated with preventable injury and safety promotion.
“The social factors associated with safety, harm and safety perception appear to be the same elsewhere in our world; we will all gain by sharing the solutions.”
Latrobe City became the 15th accredited member of the World Health Organisation’s ‘Safe Community’ Global Network in February 1996.
Since that time, some 56 communities throughout the world have become formally accredited. They include Hume and Melbourne Cities in Victoria.
