Yesterday (Monday 25th November) saw the official launch of the YOURS Training of Facilitators at the stunning United Nations Office at Nairobi hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and share the road. Youth leaders specially selected came together to start a two week intensive road safety programme filled with interactive learning and the dynamism of the YOURS training experience.

Fourteen young leaders nominated by our key partners have officially begun their road safety learning experience via the YOURS Training of Facilitators. The programme is aimed to giving the youth leaders the opportunity to understand key principles in road safety and demonstrate them in their own workshops.

As week one gets off to a start, the young leaders have already tackled a host of road safety theory issues aswell as the fundamental elements of facilitation skills so as the group can run peer-led road safety workshops throughout the country once the training is over.

The fourteen young leaders were specially selected through a recruitment programme and identified as leadership champions who take the initiave to become trained facilitators as well as key advocated for road safety in Kenya. The young people were selected from a host of local and national NGOs with delivery support from:

The training is currently in its second day of a two week programme and currently the participants have covered:

• Fundamentals of Human Learning
• Peer Education
• Scope of the Road Safety Problem in world and Kenya
• Youth and Road Traffic Injuries
• Understanding Road Safety

As the training continues, the young people will continue their active learning on key risk factors including speed, helmets and distracted driving and will use their skills to develop their own localized training workshops to run with the wider Kenyan population as well as filtering of workshop to be run by Brian (our regular columnist) who is also attending the programme in attendance from Uganda.

In week two, the young people will run their training programmes for real in pilot workshops coordinated by the Kenya Red Cross at the Karen Langata Branch where over volunteers will be trained in two key road safety topics.

Stay tuned for more updates on the day including pictures on our Facebook Page and updates on Twitter.

The YOURS Training of Facilitators, a core component of our Capacity Development Programme will kick of next week (Monday 25th November) at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, the headquaters of the United Nations in Africa. The training of facilitators will build on the work of last year’s programmes with a new set of young Kenyan leaders who will go out and run their own workshops in their communities.

Next weel, YOURS will run the second Training of Facilitators in Nairobi, Kenya, building on the success of the First Kenya Training of Facilitators that took place last year. We thank our key partners that have made the second training possible, which will give a new group youth leaders to opportunity to be trained on road safety topics and facilitation skills. We highlight our key partners below

The training will be set against the backdrop of the beautiful grounds of the United Nations Environment Programme at the United Nations Office at Nairobi across acres of greenery and inspirational landscapes where paritipants will have the opportunity to commit to road safety for the years ahead.

We will also be working with a host of local NGOs on the ground in Kenya who will work with us to deliver a new cohort of facilitators who will, after the training, run their own workshops across Kenya. The training will run from 25th November 2013 – 6th December 2013  is being hosted at the United Nations Campus in Nairobi, Kenya (supported by the United Nations Evnironment Programme; Share the Road). 

Floor Lieshout, Director of YOURS said, “Along side Safe Roads, Safe Vehicles and Post Crash Care, we need Safe Road Users. Youth play a fundamental role in creating these safe road users. Their participation must be built in to road safety intiatives. When youth are well informed, inspired, skilled and given a real chance to participate, they are very powerful allies to energize the `road safety revolution´ in a country as peer educators, advocates and innovators”.

The YOURS Training of Facilitators takes place over a two week period and is an intensive training that prepares young people in understanding road safety theory and risk factors alongside practical facilitation skills. Week one focuses on road safety knowledge and skills to be an effective peer educator, week two offers in the field practical experience. 

Key outcomes of the training are as follows:

1. Increase young people´s understanding of the road safety crisis in Kenya and the risks they face on the roads (e.g.: speeding, helmets, distracted driving).
2. Promote and increase the involvement of young people in road safety efforts in Kenya.
3. Build the knowledge and develop the skills of 10-15 youth leaders in order for them to implement their own road safety activities

As always, YOURS will be ‘live’ reporting from the event which will also bring back last year’s facilitators to share their experience of independently running workshops after the training and their overall advice for new facilitators creating an on going support mechanism.