News & Blog Archives

Youth Voices at the Asia-Pacific Road Safety Conference

by Melisa Perez | Sep 12, 2025 | News & Blog

This week, Manila became the stage for one of the region’s most important gatherings on road safety: the Asia-Pacific Regional Road Safety Conference 2025, hosted by the Asian Development Bank together with GRSP, APRSO, Bridgestone Asia Pacific, and iRAP. From governments and development banks to researchers, advocates, and civil society, the event united key players under one roof to discuss how to strengthen and diversify financing for safer roads.

On the final day, youth voices were front and centre. Our Executive Director, Raquel Barrios, joined the plenary session “Shaping Safer Roads Together: Civil Society, Investment, and the Road to 2030.” Alongside experts from China, India, and the Philippines, she shared how youth leadership is transforming the global road safety movement.

Raquel highlighted three ways youth are making a difference:

Accountability: ensuring that government promises translate into real action and safer streets.
Coalition-building: connecting voices from across more than 120 countries into one powerful force.
Evidence-based solutions: bringing lived experience and data together to design effective, future-focused interventions.

Her message was clear: young people are not just beneficiaries of safer roads — they are co-architects of mobility systems that protect lives. And this leadership does not act in isolation. It works hand in hand with governments, civil society, and the private sector as one force with a shared goal: safer mobility for all.

This message resonates strongly in the Philippines 🇵🇭, where YOURS is proud to support the Link4All project. In Western Visayas, the project is breaking new ground by co-developing the region’s first Road Safety Action Plan — designed in collaboration with young advocates whose lived experiences and ideas are shaping every step. Earlier this year, the project brought together young leaders for a two-day Link4All Summit, where participants prepared through three YOURS Academy modules, equipping them with the skills and confidence to influence policy discussions.

From the regional stage in Manila to the local streets of Western Visayas, the story is the same: youth leadership works. It brings urgency, innovation, and accountability to the road safety agenda. The smartest investment we can make on the road to 2030 is in their leadership — because their safety and their solutions are inseparable.

🌍✨ Together, across generations and sectors, we are moving closer to safer roads for all.

A call to shift from youth participation to power sharing

by Melisa Perez | Sep 4, 2025 | Info Point, News & Blog

Last September 2024, at the United Nations Summit of the Future, world leaders adopted a landmark agreement: the Pact of the Future, to tackle the most pressing global challenges, accelerate sustainable development and financing for development.

With August being the month to commemorate International Youth Day, I reflect on the long list of international agreements that formally recognise the need to embed and strengthen meaningful youth participation at national and international levels (The Pact of the Future formally does it in articles 36 and 37, respectively). While “meaningful youth participation” has long been the mantra of youth-focused global development initiatives, it no longer reflects the urgency of today’s political realities. The concept implies inclusion without agency, inviting young people to the table but rarely letting them shape the menu.

Young people are not just beneficiaries of future policies, but active agents of change who should be involved in shaping the future they will inherit. This includes ensuring that youth have the means and resources to be heard, and that their perspectives and vision are considered in all relevant decision-making processes. That goes beyond participation and must be something more aligned to institutionalised power-sharing. It demands a structural and cultural transformation in how institutions perceive and engage with young people.

When it comes to road safety and sustainable mobility, there must be a foundational change in how young people are included and perceived, as mostly, they seem to be playing the “beneficiary role”. Young people, as one of the most affected populations of unsafe transport systems and mobility inequities, have to play a more active role in designing and implementing solutions that reflect their lived realities. What they need, how they interact with the system, how they behave, what they share with their peers, what challenges and inequalities they faced, are just a few of the multiple questions they could help answer with real representation and power-sharing.

Without power-sharing, road safety and sustainable mobility remain a technocratic exercise; with it, they become a democratic mandate. When communities, especially youth and marginalised groups, are co-authors in mobility planning, streets move from being engineered abstractions and become expressions of collectiveness, shaped by lived realities and local priorities.

Power-sharing with youth in road safety and sustainable mobility could bring multiple benefits to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of policies. When real, youth can use their creativity, fresh perspectives and innovative mindsets to influence inclusive and equitable street design and actionable norms. The fact that they have exercised agency since the beginning could foster co-ownership, accountability, transparency, and higher chances of compliance, while policies could also remain flexible and responsive to changing needs.

In the road safety and sustainable transportation field and any other field, youth need political design, not performative spaces. The rhetoric of youth inclusion has too often translated into forums, panels, and consultations that prioritise visibility over agency. What young people require is political design: intentional, institutional mechanisms that embed their influence into the machinery of governance. Youth engagement doesn’t mean much without mechanisms for co-authorship of policy, oversight of implementation, and accountability within power structures. Designing youth roles politically means rethinking democracy, not as a stage for speaking up, but as a way to distribute authority, power and responsibility. That requires re-shaping political, economic, and social frameworks to be flexible, responsive, and co-created with young people at the table.

With this year’s International Youth Day Campaign, YOURS is making a bold statement to call for real, actionable and systemic intergenerational collaboration to address road safety and sustainable mobility. To do so, we are inviting youth to assess the current status of their country’s commitment to road safety & youth by running the “Political Commitment Checklist”. It is time to build mechanisms that transfer influence, decision-making power, and accountability to younger generations, not just offering them a voice but serving as facilitators to provide them with the tools to lead. To see real and long-lasting change, society must continue pushing for structures that keep up with youth ambition, challenging the institutional inaction that sidelines fresh thinking and real-life experiences. Youth today aren’t just asking to be heard, they’re demanding systems that recognise their urgency, creativity, and appetite to transform and support building the mobility system they will inherit.

The future of mobility is about reclaiming streets that foster human connections, prioritising safety as a societal value and having human & planetary health as a mantra. Investing in transport systems that reflect the collective vision of the people they serve will undoubtedly help building stronger economies. Reclaiming the streets means shifting control from top-down authorities to bottom-up movements where youth and marginalised voices lead the way in shaping safe, inclusive, sustainable, and just mobility ecosystems. Anything less is unacceptable and unsustainable.

Editorial for International Youth Day by Raquel Barrios, Executive Director of Youth for Road Safety (YOURS).

Youth Power in Action: Link4All Summit Fuels Philippines’ First Youth-Led Road Safety Plan

by Melisa Perez | Sep 2, 2025 | Info Point, News & Blog, Partnerships

Since its launch in June 2025, the partnership between Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) and the Ligtas na Kalsada for All (LinK4All) project has been redefining road safety planning in Western Visayas, Philippines. YOURS is a proud project partner with Western Visayas as they ‘walk the talk’: designing a transformative road safety plan with and for young people.

The Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan (WVRSAP), the country’s first regional transport strategy co-created with young advocates, took a major leap forward with the 2-day Link4All Summit on August 6–7, 2025. The Ligtas na Kalsada for All (LinK4All) Summit is a two-part activity that aims to give participants a better context of road safety and to generate inputs for the Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan. The Workshop is an in-person, intensive activity that will enable participants to directly determine pragmatic strategies to address road safety issues for the medium term. This event brought together young leaders, government planners, and private sector professionals to shape a safer, more sustainable future, proving that youth are credible and capable partners in co-creating road safety action plans.

The Summit was a game-changer. As detailed on the LinK4All website, workshops at the Summit focused on practical skills like crash data analysis, community engagement strategies, and designing context-specific interventions. These sessions empowered participants to draft actionable priorities for the WVRSAP, which will guide regional road safety over the next three years. A standout moment was the key presentations by Ray Macalalag, a Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety member and Youth Leadership Board (YLB) member. Ray’s presentation was based on Creating a Healthy Built Environment through Road Safety, Policymaking for Road Safety, Ensuring Meaningful Youth Engagement, Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) in Road Safety, and Safe Road Infrastructure. His session inspired participants to integrate these insights into the WVRSAP, ensuring the plan reflects the lived realities of youth.

This groundbreaking collaboration between our multi-award-winning YOURS Academy and Ligtas na Kalsada for All (LinK4All) Project in Western Visayas, Philippines, marks the first time a regional government has integrated our global evidence-based training into official road safety action planning.

YOURS Academy methodology — backed by global experts like the George Institute for Global Health, Johns Hopkins University, and the World Health Organisation — delivers engaging, gamified, evidence-based modules that resonate with youth. Its role in the Summit has advanced the WVRSAP, with participants refining strategies to reduce crashes and promote sustainable mobility. This partnership showcases YOURS Academy’s potential as a B2B training resource for governments and the private sector.

At YOURS, we genuinely believe that for change to occur, the youth demographic must be meaningfully involved. Through the YOURS Academy Modules, we are making it easy for governments and the private sector to access quality evidence-based courses, research, and expertise to help in their road safety planning policy.

The Link4All Summit builds on YOURS’ mission to position youth as essential partners, not just beneficiaries, in road safety. By bridging government, academia, private business, and youth organisations, the WVRSAP sets a global precedent for inclusive policymaking.

Want to partner or collaborate with YOURS Academy to co-create youth-driven road safety plans for your next or current ongoing projects? Contact manpreet@youthforroadsafety.org or info@youthforroadsafety.org to explore training opportunities and transform your strategies with our proven courses.

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURS ACADEMY

South Asia’s youth are stepping up for safer streets

by Melisa Perez | Aug 7, 2025 | News & Blog, Project Launches

A new training series launched by YOURS (Youth For Road Safety) and UNICEF South Asia aims to build a powerful regional movement.

Every day, millions of young people in South Asia face risks simply trying to move through their cities. Whether walking to school, riding a bicycle, or navigating traffic on public transport, they’re exposed to unsafe roads and streets not designed with them in mind. Road traffic crashes remain one of the leading causes of death among youth—and yet, their voices are often left out of the solutions.

That’s why YOURS – Youth for Road Safety and UNICEF South Asia have officially launched Slow Down, Step Up: South Asia Youth Training Series, a bold new initiative designed to equip youth leaders with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to advocate for safer, more inclusive mobility in their communities.

This is not just a training. It’s the beginning of a youth-powered movement.

Why Now?

Because young people are not just the most affected by unsafe roads — they’re also among the most powerful drivers of change. With the right support, youth can identify risk areas, mobilise their communities, and influence policies that prioritise safety and wellbeing.

What is the series about?

Between September and November 2025, young leaders from across South Asia will take part in three online, peer-led training sessions focused on:

Understanding the road safety crisis and youth-specific risks
Developing leadership and project management skills
Advocating for safer speeds in places where young people live, walk, and play

Each session is led by certified youth trainers from the YOURS network and grounded in real-world experiences from the region. The goal? To build a new wave of youth advocates ready to take action in their own cities.

But it doesn’t stop there. After completing the sessions, participants will be invited to activate what they’ve learned through local campaigns and community-based actions. From identifying dangerous locations to raising awareness through creative tools and storytelling, young people will step up as leaders in shaping safer streets across South Asia.

The first step begins on 1 September 2025, when young people from across India and Nepal will join the opening session of the training series. If you’re based in South Asia and passionate about road safety, there’s still time to join. (Link to Zoom)

Over the following months, they’ll be learning, connecting, and taking action to make their streets safer — and this is just the beginning. This initiative, co-led by YOURS and UNICEF South Asia, will engage over 500 youth advocates in its first rollout, empowering a generation to lead meaningful change and build momentum for safer, more liveable cities.

Stay tuned to see how youth step up and reshape South Asia’s streets—one action at a time.

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LinK4All Partners with YOURS Academy to Pioneer Youth-Led Road Safety Action in the Philippines

by Melisa Perez | Jun 24, 2025 | New Partnerships, News & Blog, Project Launches

At YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, we know that meaningful change begins with equipping young leaders with the knowledge and tools to transform road safety in their communities. Yet, too often, road safety planning happens without the people most affected by unsafe roads: youth, local communities, and the professionals who shape transportation policies.

That’s why we’re proud to announce a groundbreaking step forward in a new collaboration between our mutli-award-winning YOURS Academy and Ligtas na Kalsada for All (LinK4All) Project in Western Visayas, Philippines. This marks the first time a regional government has integrated our global evidence-based training t into official road safety action planning.

Road safety policies and initiatives are too often developed based on traditional assumptions of what works, without the voices of those most affected and youth initiatives are often only aimed at education. , young people and local communities. The LinK4All x YOURS Academy collaboration flips this script. This partnership changes that. Through this Road Safety Online Training Program, 50 young leaders, government planners, and private sector professionals will undergo specialised training to develop the Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan (WVRSAP), a blueprint for safer, more sustainable mobility in the region. This isn’t just another workshop; it’s a global first, proving that meaningful youth engagement and evidence-based learning must be at the heart of road safety solutions.

As Engineer and Filipino civil servant Ray Adrian explained, the project will develop a comprehensive road safety action plan that will establish priority action points for the region over three years. Ray has been actively involved in the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety and saw first-hand the transformative educational programme of the self-paced YOURS Academy. In his role in the Government of the Philippines, he championed the Academy’s usage in a systematic programme to ensure road safety practitioners in his country are equipped with crucial road safety knowledge that will inform better solutions for the Road Safety Action Plan.

In an opening message from Emillio S. Diez, President of Iloilo Business Club Inc., “We are gathered here today not just to unveil a new training platform but to mark a significant step forward in our collective journey toward safer roads and a more empowered and informed community.”

This initiative is special because road safety policies are often created for communities rather than with them and this programme gives road safety planners an insight in the scope of the road safety problem, the lived realities of youth and the particular issues that are affecting them.

It’s youth-centred. Empowering Youth as Leaders, Not Just Beneficiaries: By prioritising young professionals and planners, the initiative ensures the next generation of decision-makers are already champions of safer roads.
It Bridges Global Expertise with Local Action: The YOURS Academy—an award-winning an online self-paced and interactive training platform—will equip participants with the latest evidence-based strategies, from the Safe System Approach to the ties between road safety and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This ensures the WVRSAP isn’t just theoretical but rooted in proven global best practices and specific issues young people are advocating for through the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.
It Bridges Sectors for Shared Responsibility: With participants from government, academia, private businesses, and youth organisations, the program embodies the truth that road safety is everyone’s business.

“.. And I must commend you. You know! Capacity development is often seen as an afterthought in terms of understanding the road safety principles, theories and methods. It’s exciting to see a government believe in our brain-friendly methodology to empower real road safety decision making on the ground,” Manpreet Darroch, YOURS Capacity Development Director, highlighted during the launch.

The YOURS Academy Difference

The YOURS Academy shoots from an expert-led evidence-based background, with key global thought leaders like the George Institute for Global Health, John’s Hopkins University and the World Health Organisation contributing to its content. globa and It provides youth with access to information, motivation, resources, and skills that they can apply in local and global initiatives as road safety leaders and advocates. The Academy presents the data-rich modules in an easy-to-follow, engaging, and gamified format aimed to resonate well with young people, giving it rave reviews.

Since its launch, YOURS Academy has trained thousands of young leaders worldwide in road safety advocacy and policy. This partnership with LinK4All reinforces its role as a global leader in youth capacity-building, now directly shaping regional policy in the Philippines.

A Milestone for Youth Leadership

This partnership proves what YOURS has long championed: Young people can’t just be recipients of road safety information aren’t just beneficiaries of road safety but can and do act as essential partnersleaders in designing solutions that work. As DEPDev VI Regional Director, Engr. Arecio Casing, Jr. noted, “The YOURS academy training marks a crucial step in equipping the formulators of the Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan with the knowledge and global best practices needed to design effective context-specific interventions.”

Follow the journey as these young leaders transform training into action, and stay tuned for more opportunities to engage with YOURS Academy’s global initiatives.

Learn more about YOURS Academy: claimingourspace.org/yours-academy

YOURS joins SuM4All: Elevating youth voices in global mobility

by Melisa Perez | Jun 24, 2025 | New Partnerships, News & Blog

Sustainable mobility is a global challenge and a shared mission. As cities grow, temperatures rise, and traffic-related deaths remain alarmingly high, the need to redesign transport systems has never been more urgent. Safer, greener, and more inclusive mobility is not just a goal; it’s a necessity.

That’s why initiatives like Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) matter. SuM4All is a powerful global platform that brings together over 60 organisations, from UN agencies and development banks to civil society and the private sector, to shape a common agenda for the future of mobility. And now, youth have a seat at that table. We’re proud to share that YOURS – Youth for Road Safety is officially part of the SuM4All Consortium!

As the only youth-led organisation focused on road safety and sustainable mobility within the consortium, YOURS brings the creativity, determination and global reach of a movement driven by young people. Our role is clear: ensure youth are not only present in the conversation, but fully shaping the direction of sustainable transport solutions.

“It is a true honour for YOURS to have been accepted to join the Sustainable Mobility for All (Sum4All) initiative and contribute to the collective mission of creating safer, more equitable, and sustainable transport systems worldwide. We believe that young people must be at the centre of global mobility solutions, and through meaningful collaboration, they can contribute to and influence global dialogues on sustainable mobility. With Sum4All and its partners, we look forward to bringing youth vision to the initiative’s important work, fostering innovation, creativity, technology, and other hands-on elements, and ensuring that youth-led perspectives are integral to shaping policies and initiatives that affect their present and future.” Raquel Barrios, Executive Director of YOURS.

This milestone builds on what YOURS has already been doing around the world. Through our Local Actions initiative, young leaders are designing and leading projects that connect road safety with climate, accessibility, and equity in their communities. These efforts prove that youth-led change is not just possible, it’s powerful. Discover Local Actions here.

With SuM4All, we’ll amplify that impact. Together, we’ll ensure that road safety remains at the core of global mobility conversations and that youth-led ideas help shape practical, inclusive solutions.

Being part of SuM4All unlocks new opportunities for YOURS: joining expert working groups, contributing to global strategies, and building partnerships that strengthen advocacy and action. This isn’t just a new membership—it’s a meaningful step forward in embedding youth leadership at the heart of sustainable mobility.

Learn more about SuM4All: https://www.sum4all.org

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