The Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) organisation, in collaboration with the Autoliv Safety Foundation, proudly announces the launch of Jóvenes en Ruta (YouthOnTrack), an initiative aimed at reducing motorcycle-related fatalities among young people in the State of Mexico.

YOURS is honoured to partner with the Autoliv Safety Foundation -founded and funded by Autoliv in order to support scientific research and development in the field of road safety and related areas to promote a better and safer world. This partnership combines Autoliv’s cutting-edge expertise with YOURS’ youth-driven methodologies to create lasting change.

The program will launch in early 2025 and will engage youth leaders in high-risk communities. Using a peer-to-peer approach, Jóvenes en Ruta (YouthOnTrack) aims to build awareness of helmet use and promote safer driving practices. This initiative addresses an urgent need, as motorcycle-related crashes have become the leading cause of death for youth aged 15–29 in Mexico, with fatalities rising 40% over the past decade.

Through workshops, youth leaders will gain critical skills in motorcycle safety, public speaking, and community organizing. These leaders will then implement community activations, reaching over 2,000 young people with life-saving messages. Activities such as university presentations, public demonstrations, and media campaigns will amplify their impact, encouraging safer behaviours across their communities.

The initiative aims to build a foundation for sustained change by collaborating with local NGOs, government institutions, and educational bodies. Trained leaders will continue their advocacy, fostering a culture of safety and responsibility among future cohorts.

YOURS and the Autoliv Safety Foundation invite young people, community organizations, and government officials in the State of Mexico to join this vital movement. Together, we can create safer roads, protect lives, and inspire a new generation of road safety advocates.

 The YOURS Academy, launched in 2022 as the definitive online youth e-learning school for road safety by YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, has been honoured with the highly-coveted Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2024. This recognition celebrates its innovative and impactful contribution to improving road safety knowledge among young leaders worldwide and making tangible contributions to road safety globally.

The Prince Michael International Road Safety Award is one of the most esteemed honours in the field of road safety, recognising outstanding achievements and innovative approaches to reducing road traffic injuries and fatalities. Established over three decades ago, the award has celebrated the efforts of individuals and organisations globally, highlighting their commitment to making roads safer for everyone.

The award acknowledges the YOURS Academy’s success in equipping young people with essential skills and knowledge through its creative and engaging platform. With six comprehensive modules—ranging from the global road safety crisis to advocacy and soft skills development—the Academy has enabled young leaders to drive meaningful change in their communities. Since its inception, over 2000+ learners have engaged with the platform, and +1,800 certificates have been awarded to those who successfully completed the modules.

“We are absolutely thrilled and deeply honoured that the YOURS Academy has been recognised with this prestigious award,” said Manpreet Darroch, Deputy Director and Capacity Development Director at YOURS. “This achievement reflects the incredible dedication of our team and the inspiring drive of young leaders worldwide who are prioritising road safety in their communities. It celebrates our decade-long efforts in countries and our progress in digitalising outreach, fuelling our passion to continue delivering tools and knowledge for real change. Our heartfelt thanks go to the Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards and the judges for recognising our work—it means so much to all of us at YOURS.”

This milestone highlights the Academy’s ability to provide accessible, engaging, and impactful education both offline and online. By leveraging innovative approaches, YOURS Academy has created a dynamic platform for young advocates to learn at their own pace and make a difference in road safety. It builds on our unique capacity development methodology that has a mission to make road safety cool – using a 4E approach; education, entertainment, empowerment and engagement.

“This award for the YOURS Academy represents a significant milestone in our mission to advance global road safety through innovative capacity development. It reflects the strategic importance of investing in young leaders who are driving change in their communities and beyond. This recognition strengthens our resolve to expand the Academy’s reach and impact, ensuring that road safety remains a top priority for youth. We are deeply grateful to the Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards for this honour, which underscores the value of empowering youth as critical agents of change.”
– Raquel Barrios, Executive Director, YOURS

Young leaders around the world have praised the Academy’s impact.  “YOURS Academy is such a brilliant platform! It compiles essential knowledge that you need to know about road safety. I really enjoyed every section of the first module and very excited to wait for the next ones as this was packaged in a very fun way! I highly recommend this platform to you as young leaders who are advocating for road safety. Congratulations and a welcome to the new road safety champions!” – Estiara Ellizar, Indonesia 

This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication of the incredible young leaders who have embraced the YOURS Academy and are passionate about making the world around them fairer, equitable and accessible. YOURS extends its profound gratitude to its partners, particularly the World Health Organization (WHO) and TotalEnergies Foundation (TEF), whose critical support has been instrumental in bringing the Academy to life. We also acknowledge the invaluable contributions of key collaborators, including The George Institute – Imperial College London namely Dr. Margie Peden, who helped us conceptualise the Academy, Johns Hopkins University, University of New South Wales, FIA Foundation, Parachute, UNICEF, Blaise Murphet Limited, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), and the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. Their expertise and commitment played an essential role in shaping the content and impact of the Academy, ensuring our modules are world-class and evidence-based.

Accessible for free, YOURS Academy invites all road safety advocates to join its growing network of active learners, explore partnerships to revitalise road safety education and ultimately take action on the #1 global killer of youth: road traffic crashes.

Learn more and enrol today here

We are excited to announce that Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) has been awarded the Inclusion and Diversity Award at the IRF World Congress 2024 for our work on the Belize Youth Empowerment Programme. This recognition underscores the power of youth-led initiatives to create safer, more inclusive, and sustainable communities.

In 2014, Belize faced a road safety crisis, with young people representing 30% of road fatalities. In response, YOURS partnered with the Caribbean Development Bank, the Government of Belize through the Ministry of Education, and with Youth to launch the Belize Youth Empowerment Programme. This initiative empowered 35 young leaders to address road safety in their communities, transforming them into change-makers.

Our award-winning methodology provided these young leaders with the tools to lead a ripple effect. After various master training sessions, they reached over 3,000 peers through workshops, festivals, and media outreach. All these efforts created a safety vision amongst the country’s youth. To ensure the sustainability of their actions, they even founded the Belizean Youth for Road Safety (BYRS).

The success of this initiative demonstrates the power of multisectoral collaboration—combining the investment of a multilateral bank, the strategic vision of government ministries, and the leadership of youth.

We thank the IRF for acknowledging the importance of youth engagement in road safety and look forward to continuing our mission to empower young leaders worldwide.

Article originally published by TotalEnergies Foundation

After an initial support phase (2019-2023) that helped federate more than 2,100 young people from 121 different countries, a new partnership between TotalEnergies Foundation and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety (YOURS) has been agreed on, to last until June 2026. With the shared aim to inspire, mobilize and unite young people worldwide to create a youth-led force demanding and delivering safe and sustainable mobility at global and local levels.

The 2024-2026 cycle will continue to build on the existing work done by and for young people, but efforts will focus more on actions in urban areas. YOURS will be provided with training,  tools, seed funding, and will develop partnerships to promote the implementation of innovative local actions and strategies to achieve a “glocal^*” impact. 

“Global” is a combination of the words “global” and “local” to describe an approach that links the local and global dimensions of the same phenomenon.

YOURS will therefore deepen its regional and local influence by making customizable, translated resources available that connect global advocacy to change on the ground.

The new partnership will support several priority activities:

• The “YOURS Academy”: an online learning platform where young people can progress at their own pace. YOURS is the first global organization to open an interactive, online platform inspired by the gaming community. In the coming years, YOURS will continue to build a suite of learning modules to meet the needs of young leaders.
• A regional training program for training instructors: the “glocal” approach involves adapting training topics to local environments and delivering them in the local language. YOURS will therefore train a group of 10 to 12 leaders who have the skills, knowledge and practical experience in road safety, sustainable mobility and advocacy, so that they can empower other young people in their region.
• Live training sessions through online webinars. With a moderator and advice from experts, these live sessions will encourage members to engage and share best practices.
• A digital platform and a real “community hub”. The platform was created to streamline relationships among the members of YOURS and is designed to federate the members of the coalition, follow-up their engagement and make communication among them easier.
• A former member “Alumni” program to encourage mentoring, a valuable resource for new members.

These initiatives resonate with those of TotalEnergies Foundation and its partners (Prévention Routière association, the International Road Federation, Global Alliance, Global Road Safety Facility and so on) working toward safer roads.

Recently, YOURS – Youth for Road Safety welcomed youth leaders, Simon Patrick Obi and Inés Yabar, into its governing body, the Supervisory Board. 

Additionally, YOURS welcomes another person to the Board—Professor Jagnoor Jagnoor—who represents the role of academe and advocacy in road safety, sustainable mobility, and meaningful youth participation.

Professor Jagnoor currently serves as an Associate Professor and Programme Lead for Injury at the George Institute for Global Health in Australia. She also heads the Injury Division in India and co-directs the World Health Organization—WHO Collaborating Center for Injury Prevention and Trauma Care. 

She holds an Emerging Leadership Level under the NHMRC or the National Health and Medical Research Council, which means that she has been given a grant to pursue research on health and medicine with a focus on injury epidemiology. 

Professor Jagnoor’s research focuses on various topics, including the impact of injuries, equity and vulnerability in injury burden distribution, interventions to reduce the load of injuries across Australia, Africa, and Asia, and injury prevention and post-injury recovery outcomes.

To help you get to know Professor Jagnoor better, we asked her a few questions about her life and her experiences. Read on! 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? About how you got into academe and eventually into the road safety field?
My journey into academia has been one of continuous learning, unlearning, and relearning. I’ve always been fascinated by how social systems, policies, and infrastructure shape individual behaviours, particularly when it comes to public health and safety. Over time, I recognised that road safety is not just a technical issue but a deeply intersectional one, where marginalised groups—whether due to gender, disability, or socio-economic status—are often the most vulnerable. Safe, accessible and efficient transportation is an enabler for better social determinants of health with access to education, employment and health services. This realization fuelled my commitment to working in this field, with a focus on addressing systemic barriers rather than placing the burden of change solely on individuals.

What are you looking forward to doing and achieving as a new member of the YOURS Supervisory Board?
As a new member, I’m eager to contribute to the organisation’s mission, ensuring that our strategies remain inclusive and responsive to diverse needs. My goal is to foster a more holistic approach to road safety, one that extends beyond traditional measures and considers how gender, disability, and other intersecting factors shape road use. I also aim to advocate for policies that address these structural inequities, striving for solutions that are both effective and equitable. I hope to help bridge the gap between evidence and community voices, creating platforms that bring marginalized perspectives into the mainstream.

Working with youth, especially those from marginalised communities, is also a unique opportunity to amplify voices that are often unheard. I’m excited to engage with young leaders who bring their lived experiences into the conversation around road safety. Their perspectives on issues like accessibility, gender-based violence, and the socio-economic barriers to safe mobility are crucial. I believe my role is to ensure that these insights help shape the global road safety agenda and are reflected in both policy and practice.

Can you talk a bit about the role academia and advocacy have in furthering road safety efforts?
Academia provides the framework to understand how complex social determinants shape behaviours, particularly in the realm of road safety. The role of research is not only to inform but also to challenge traditional narratives that place the onus on individuals to be “responsible” drivers or pedestrians. Instead, we need to look at how structural factors—such as access to education, socio-economic status, and physical ability—affect road use and safety. Clearly, academia is often perceived and respected as an “expert” voice. Advocacy, on the other hand, translates this knowledge into action, pushing for policies that address these root causes.

 From a strategic point of view, how will you integrate academia into the work YOURS is doing for young people and road safety?
Strategically, academia can serve as a foundation for inclusive, data-driven advocacy. By integrating academic research with the lived experiences of young people, we can create a roadmap for effective and equitable interventions. This means not only studying road safety from a technical standpoint but also examining how different populations—such as women, people with disabilities, and low-income communities—experience road environments differently. I see opportunities for YOURS to work closely with academic institutions to produce intersectional research that informs our campaigns and advocacy efforts.

Can you give us a little glimpse into what your visions are for the organisation with this new Supervisory Board that now includes young people within its structure?
With young people now playing a more integral role on the supervisory board, I envision YOURS becoming an even more dynamic and inclusive force for change. My hope is to build an environment where youth from all backgrounds—feel empowered to lead and innovate. I see this as a chance to co-create strategies that reflect the realities of different groups, whether it’s addressing the unique challenges faced by women on the roads, or ensuring that people with disabilities have access to safe and reliable transportation options.

Professor Jagnoor joins Professor Adnan A. Hyder, Professor Shanthi Ameratunga, and Ruud de Groot on the Board.

14th October 2024, Lisbon, Portugal – YOURS – Youth for Road Safety is participating in Walk21 Portugal: Everybody Walks in three key sessions to share youth-led projects focused on fostering active modes of mobility.

Throughout the event, YOURS will participate in the WalkShop on Inclusive Street Design for children, women, and people with disabilities, the Pecha Kucha Presentation on the Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) Project in Yaounde, Cameroon, and the WalkShop about the app “YEA”.

The 24th International Walk21 Conference on Walking and Liveable Communities is being hosted by the Institute of Mobility and Transport on behalf of the Government of the Portuguese Republic in partnership with the City of Lisbon, Iscte, and Walk21.

Participants are invited to discuss how walking policies and projects are transforming the urban paradigm; impacting people’s walking experiences; helping deliver on safety, equity and climate goals and attracting investment for urban development that supports people walking.

Featured during the Walk21 sessions are Local Actions projects “Pedestrian First” in Colombia and “Waka Fine To School” in Cameroon. 

Pedestrian First raises awareness around pedestrian vulnerability and the need to respect their integrity. Implemented in 2023, it amplified the message about how road users are co-responsibility for creating safer spaces and how they can advocate for safer roads in Bogotá.

Meanwhile, Waka Fine To School mapped school zones, created risk maps, implemented the Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) methodology pioneered by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) to implement road safety infrastructure interventions which will result in the creation of school signs, enforcement of speed limits, and the maintenance of pedestrian crosswalks in ‘risky locations’.

These youth-led projects fit within the Walk21 objective of stakeholders sharing insights and expertise on developing and implementing walking policies and programmes that deliver walkable communities and safer streets, broader community participation and enhance the value of walking.

The event is an opportunity for YOURS to connect with organisations sharing similar goals geared toward improving road safety and sustainable mobility.

By exploring different synergies anchored on the importance of investing in youth, YOURS can bridge the gap between young people and investors to help amplify road safety impact on the ground. The space is also an opportunity for knowledge sharing, paving the way for more improved and more strategic projects supported by the organisation.