Day 1 of #SAFETY2026 is done, and I’m excited just thinking about the conversations today that have set the stage for the next four days. Alongside injury prevention researchers and practitioners from across the globe, we explored how we need to deepen our approach to systems thinking when designing interventions. It was also great connecting with partners from across the public health space - many of whom I haven’t met in person for years- and sharing ideas on how we can better collaborate for maximum impact. #SAFETY2026 #UbuntuForSafety #OmanyiOkuwuga #DrowningPrevention

My biggest takeaway from Day 2 of #SAFETY2026 came from a panel on the challenges of implementing injury prevention programs - and how we can overcome them to strengthen our interventions. One insight that stood out is that access to childcare is a critical intervention in reducing deaths among children aged 1-4. We heard a powerful example from Bangladesh. In flood-prone rural areas of the country, drowning rates are devastatingly high, with children drowning as close as 20 meters from their homes due to open ponds, rivers, canals, and drainage ditches. The root cause was a care gap, with working parents struggling to provide constant supervision during the day, which compromised their children's safety. To address this, community-based daycare and learning centres were established to give children a safe place to learn and play, while also educating the community on drowning prevention. The result: these nurseries reduced child drowning deaths by 88%. @BloombergDotOrg initiated the project and handed the centres over to the communities. From there, the government and local partners stepped up to grow them to four times the original number. These are exactly the kinds of insights we are eager to learn from as we work to deliver cross-cutting change in Uganda. #UbuntuForSafety #OmanyiOkuwuga #DrowningPrevention #ReachAHandAfrica