RTIRN Small Grants Programme – Call for Research Proposals

RTIRN Small Grants Programme – Call for Research Proposals

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

The Road Traffic Injuries Research Network (RTIRN), along with support with the World Bank, launches the “RTIRN Small Grants Program”. This program is set to support the work of RTI researchers in Low and Middle income countries. Offering grants of $20,000 – $27,000 for high quality research in the prevention of road traffic injuries. Read more below.

The Road traffic Injuries Research Network (RTIRN) is a partnership of over 785 individuals and institutions – Government, Academic and Non-Governmental from over 88 countries that collaborate to further research on the impact and causes of Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) in low- and middle-income countries and to identify appropriate interventions to the problem.  The vision of the RTIRN is to reduce the burden of road traffic injuries, particularly in low- and middle-income countries through the promotion, conduct and utilization of research.

To achieve this vision, the network has set a goal of establishing networking mechanisms and assisting in the creation of partnerships between RTI researchers and institutions globally, as well as supporting research and research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. To this end, the RTIRN, with support from the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, announces a Call for Research Proposals under a Small Grants Program.

You can read more about the small grants here.

Thematic Areas and Focus:
The overall goal of this grant program is to support high quality research to reduce the burden of road traffic injuries in low and middle income countries. Under this goal applications are encouraged (though not exclusively) to address the following themes:

  • The 5 pillars of road safety as described in the Decade of Action plan (see http://www.who.int/roadsafety/decade_of_action/plan/plan_english.pdf);
  • Epidemiology, risk factors and determinants of road traffic injuries
  • Interventions for preventing road traffic injuries (primary prevention, acute and continuing care, rehabilitation)
  • Economic and policy analysis of road traffic injury policies and programs

All valid scientific approaches – quantitative or qualitative – will be considered and must be appropriate to the goals and objectives of the study. The location of the study must be in a low or middle income country and projects are expected to last 1 year.

Number of Grants:8-12
Award Amount: USD $20,000-27,000 each award

Eligibility Criteria:
Eligible applicant should be a partner of the RTIRN (or can become a new partner) and be a national of a low or middle income country (see http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups for a World Bank classification of low and middle income countries). Applicants must be currently employed by or registered with a recognized institution in their country of residence.

Program Requirements:
These funds may be used by recipients to cover the costs of research related activities including the following:

  • Field work (including fees for data collectors, interviewers and other field staff if employed as part of the study);
  • Equipment, software, books, and materials for research; and
  • Research related travel expenses for those recipients conducting field research in another site (grant funds may NOT used to support attendance at conferences). Travel for investigators from HIC, or for investigators to travel to HIC is not permitted.

Consult the full terms and conditions before you consider applying!

Full details of the small grants fund for research can be found here.

Take part in WHO photo competition for adolescent health – win $US 1000!

Take part in WHO photo competition for adolescent health – win $US 1000!

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

As part of its work with young people, the World Health Organization is putting together a report on the health of the world’s adolescents. The report will look at the health and development of adolescents, present summaries of what is known about adolescent health – including what promotes or undermines their health – and how communities and countries are meeting adolescents’ needs for health and development. As part of that report, the WHO is reaching out to young people to take part in their adolescent health photo competition.

There is an exciting opportunity for young people aged 14-19 to take part in a WHO photo competition to promote adolescent health. The WHO are currently putting together a report on the state of global adolescent health and as part of that, here at YOURS, we strongly believe that road safety should be part of that report illustrating that road traffic crashes are a serious health concern for all young people, globally.

We therefore call upon you, the Global Youth Network for Road Safety to take part in this photo competition and encourage 14-19 year olds that you know to take part! It is a great opportunity to showcase your photo skills with a chance of winning $US 1000 and a special opportunity to work with WHO as one of 10 contributing photographers for the Health for the World’s Adolescents report!

The themes on which WHO are looking for photos are:

  • Adolescents are healthy (engaging in healthy activities)
  • Adolescents learn about health (health education)
  • Adolescents use health services when needed
  • It can be difficult to stay healthy (images about the environment and risk-behaviours)
  • Adolescents are active in promoting health (advocating for health, participation) 

In terms of road safety, your work as road safety abassadors could be captured in photos for this competition!

Who can enter?
The competition is free to enter and is open to anyone between the ages of 14-19 from all countries. If you are under 18, you must have your parent or legal guardian’s consent to submit your images to the competition.

Competition prize
The prize of the competition is the opportunity to work with WHO as one of 10 contributing photographers for the Health for the World’s Adolescents report. Each winner will be provided with a bursary of $US 1000 to take photos. The photos will belong to the winners, although WHO will have the right to use them in the report and for future publications.

For some inspiration, check out the Long Short Walk!

Key dates
The photo competition whas been open since 15 July 2013. The deadline for entries is 15 September 2013. A panel will judge the photographs and winners will be contacted individually by 15 October 2013. Winners will be expected to provide their photographs by 15 November 2013.

How do I enter the competition?

  • Your contact information
  • Your age, sex and country of residence
  • Why you want to be involved
  • Which one of the 5 themes (see above) your photographs will focus on if you are one of the winners
  • Your experience in taking photographs
  • A completed consent form (see the link below)
  • Between 5-10 photos together with captions (please certify that you have taken these photos yourself)
  • What camera you used to take the photos you send in, and the details of any edits you have made (permitted editing includes minor burning, dodging, cropping and/or colour corrections).
  • Please send an email to adohealth2014@gmail.com with the subject line “photo” and include in the body of the email:

You can find out more information about the competition here.

Update from the online chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Agenda

Update from the online chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Agenda

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

On Thursday (18th July 2013), The Center for American Progress ran a social media chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It focused on the important role young people will play in shaping and realizing the Post-2015 Development Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are happy to announce that the efforts of our partners and youth network brought road safety to the discussion with a question posed to the panel and answered by the chair of the discussion.

A year ago, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a panel of 26 eminent people, including Center for American Progress Chair John Podesta and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, to make recommendations for an ambitious global development agenda beyond the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals – the shared global antipoverty targets co-signed by all U.N. member states – at the end of 2015.

On Thursday 18th July, a social media chat took place in a Google+ Hangout to discuss youth issues for the Post-2015 agenda. It offered young people from around the world a chance to talk about pertinent issues related to global sustainable development. On the panel was Mr John Podesta, Chair of the Center for American Progress and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Under his leadership American Progress has become a notable leader in the development of and advocacy for progressive policy.

Alongside Podesta was Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, Tawakkol Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 in recognition of her work in nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peacebuilding work in Yemen.

We called upon  young people via social media to join together to bring road safety to the Post-2015 Agenda.

A joint advocacy push
In collaboration with the Makes Road Safe Campaign, the NGO Alliance for Road Safety and Global Youth Network for Road Safety, called upon young people, in our network and beyond to join together to call for road safety to be part of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The result was a joint advocacy push for road safety to be included as a topic of dicussion. We are happy to announce that a question on youth and road safety issues was put forward to the panel which John Podesta answered.

The question posed asked why, as the biggest killer of young people, that road safety is not included as a target for the agenda.

Specifically, we are pushing to bring attention to the facts that:

  • road traffic injuries are the No.1 killer of young people and this is unacceptable
  • this is a development issue, as it predominantly affects people in fast developing countries (low and middle-income)
  • every day hundreds of thousands of young people commute to school using dangerous roads, we do not want to die to get an education
  • the global road safety crisis needs a global solution and can only be tackled with a global cooperation
  • we, the young people, care about this issue, and road safety must be in the post-2015 agenda

The Youth and Road Safety Action Kit offers an introduction to the road safety crisis facing young people globally. Read it here.

John Podesta recognized the question and the cause as a very important point for public health in terms of improving infrastructure to minimize risk to young people and the benefits that come from investing in road safety. Podesta mentioned the discussion by the UN High Level panel on incuding the need for more refinement and work to include road safety in some form in the agenda. He noted,

‘I’m hopeful as the Post-2015 process goes forward that continued attention on road safety will be front and center in the open working group process but also in the member state process’

This statement recognizes road safety as a major public health concern globally for all young people and as Podesta mentions, the momentum in keeping this cause on the agenda is needed to ensure that it is included in the targets for the Post-2015 development agenda. YOURS will be offering ways in which this can happen shortly in collaboration with you, the global youth network for road safety.

We thank you for your efforts so far and will keep you updated on the input for bringing road safety to the Sustainable Development Goals for the Post-2015 Agenda. The video can be viewed in the right column or by clicking on the picture below:

Take part in tomorrow’s online chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Agenda

Take part in tomorrow’s online chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Agenda

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

Tomorrow (Thursday 18th July 2013) The Center for American Progress is running a social media chat on Youth and the Post-2015 Agenda. It takes place at 08:30 EST (13:30 BST) The panel’s report recognizes in particular the important role young people will play in shaping and realizing the post-2015 agenda. We call upon our youth network to take part and bring road safety to the table!

A year ago, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a panel of 26 eminent people, including Center for American Progress Chair John Podesta and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, to make recommendations for an ambitious global development agenda beyond the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals – the shared global antipoverty targets co-signed by all U.N. member states – at the end of 2015. 

If you are a young person with clear ideas, please join us for a social media chat with John Podesta and Tawakkol Karman to discuss youth issues and the post-2015 development agenda.

The panel’s report recognizes in particular the important role young people will play in shaping and realizing the post-2015 agenda.

Read more about the Post-15 Agenda and why it is important for road safety to be on the agenda.

Podesta and Karman will answer questions about their work with the U.N. High-Level Panel and will provide an opportunity for youth to engage on the issues most pressing to them as the world moves into the next phase of global poverty eradication. The medium of the conversation will be English. 

Bringing Youth and Road Safety Issues to the Agenda
The statistics are clear and irrefutable, road traffic crashes are the single biggest killer of young people worldwide and is the leading health concern facing a future generation of world youth leaders.

Not only does road safety pose developmental problems, it affects ever element of economic growth. As young people passionate about road safety, it is clear that this issue must be bought to the agenda for the youth focus of the Post-2015 Agenda for global development.  

We therefore call upon our youth network for road safety to take part in this social media chat and bring road safety to the table for the Post-2015 Agenda.

We must bring attention to the facts that:

  • road traffic injuries are the No.1 killer of young people and this is unacceptable
  • this is a development issue, as it predominantly affects people in fast developing countries (low and middle-income)
  • every day hundreds of thousands of young people commute to school using dangerous roads, we do not want to die to get an education
  • the global road safety crisis needs a global solution and can only be tackled with a global cooperation
  • we, the young people, care about this issue, and road safety must be in the post-2015 agenda 

How to take part?
1)  Register to take part on the Google + Hangout page. You can also submit a question here 
2)  Submit questions in advance, to @JohnPodesta on twitter using #Youth2015. Or on his facebook Facebook page Or by email amalknecht@americanprogress.org

Announcing our new CORE Group member for the Russian Federation!

Announcing our new CORE Group member for the Russian Federation!

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

We are delghted to announce that YOURS has appointed a new CORE Group Member for the Russian Federation. Mr Alexander Revskiy (aged 28), who works for Road Safety Russia. The size of Russia makes it almost a continent in its self and while the country originally fell under our European remit, we have decided that appointing a country representative to navigage its vast geography will enable us to be closer to the region.

The CORE Group has a very important role within the Global Youth Network for Road Safety structure.  The CORE Group serve as the key representatives of the regions who coordinate YOURS’ presence in regions around the world as well reach out to young people all across the world in a two way dialogue.

The CORE group explain their roles and grouped them into three key areas of focus:

  1. The YOURS Global Youth Network for Road Safety: ‘To improve what we currently have’- to expand, share more information about youth and road safety projects and create a thriving quality network.

  2. Coordination and Guidance: ‘To improve what we currently do’- of youth and road safety initiatives in every region consisting of coordinating and guiding activities, YOURS capacity development programs and creating regional information hubs on youth and road safety activities.

  3. Advocacy and Promotion – ‘To be heard and seen more’ – for YOURS to have a known and heard network worldwide and to reach out to the media more frequently.

The Coordinators of the Regions (CORE) were selected via a rigorous recruitment process and we selected the following representatives from an incredibly competitive list of applicants. Mr Alexander Revskiy, currently working for Road Safety Russia, joins us as the the representative for the Russian Federation and helps us to reach out to the great initatives taking place throughout the country. We interviewed him below so you can find out more about him.

We always can start with ourselves. It’s in our power to make the roads of the whole world safe’ – Alexander Revskiy

Alexander, why are you passionate about road safety?
Working in this area, you have the opportunity to be actively involved in measures to save people from the effects of what is currently the world’s number one problem in terms of the numbers of lives lost and injuries sustained. Road safety is a sore point for Russia – despite modern, progressive roads legislation, despite the significant proportion of modern vehicles with passive safety systems and even though there is a functioning post-accident assistance system, almost 28,000 people die every year. That’s equivalent to the population of a small Russian town.

Apart from the social side, there is also an economic cost: Russia loses an estimated sum as a consequence of road traffic incidents.

How have you been involved in youth road safety in Russia?
Within the context of the public awareness campaigns run by our organisation, a great deal of effort goes into work with young people. This is partly because young people are one of the most vulnerable groups and also because they are the most receptive – changing the habits and influencing the behaviour of adults is much more difficult.  

We are delighted to share our experience with young people who want to get involved in tackling the problems of road safety in Russia. We provide support and bring together their best ideas, in order to make them as accessible and effective as possible on the vast scale of our country.   We are currently actively developing partnerships with a number of youth organisations, with the aim of joining forces with them to reduce accident rates on Russian roads.

What are your plans in your new role as CORE Group member for Russia?
As a member of the CORE Group I intend to inform the representatives of the different countries about new projects being implemented in Russia. I hope to share the expertise and experience of our organisation in running public awareness campaigns and to discuss the development of a youth road safety movement in Russia.

I will also feed back to Russia information about the work of YOURS, receive information about current road safety conditions and projects implemented in different countries and take the opportunity to gain tips and knowledge for effective development in the area of road safety.

An update from Kenya: Road safety passion still strong in our participants!

An update from Kenya: Road safety passion still strong in our participants!

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

It has been six months since we ran the full two week programme of the Training of Facilitators in Nairobi Kenya. The interactive, intensive and practical training gave 11 Kenyan leaders in road safety the opportunity to become trained facilitators and run training sessions with their peers on road safety risk factors facing them in their country. Now, six months on, we have reflect on the training and hear from a few of our participants.

In late 2012, YOURS trained 11 young leaders to become road safety facilitators.

Since the full Training of Facilitators in December 2012, many of our young leaders have either delivered a road safety training with their peers or are in the process of doing so! It is always inspiring to hear how the training impacted them and most recently, how they have put what they leaned into concrete action in the field.

Kenya Red Cross Society-RS10 Project – Road Safety Public Awareness Campaign Conducted in Naivasha District

9th June, 2013: The main objective of the initiative was to remind motorists, Boda Boda Riders, passengers and the public at large on the importance of Road Safety, latest amendments, traffic laws and regulations and share on the latest statistics on the Road Safety Project.

From January to July 2013, there have been 69 cases of reported Road Traffic Crashes in Naivasha Sub County, 19 of which were fatal. It was also relayed that all reported deaths were 20 years of age with all of them being male. At Kinungi Junction alone, they have so far reported 150 deaths of road users crossing the road on either direction.

It was due to such alarming statistics that KRCS, Traffic Police Department of Naivasha, Boda Boda Association, Matatu Association and community road safety committee took the initiative in reminding the public on the importance of adherence to the Road Traffic Laws and also in minimizing the number of RTC and in the end saving lives.

The team visited the three major matatu and boda boda stages in Naivasha where each department passed Road Safety messages to the drivers, riders, touts, passengers and the public.

Trained Facilitator: John Mikwabe of the Kenya Red Cross delivers road safety messages to his peers in Naivasha, Kenya.

Naivasha District has seen a reduction of 63% in Boda Boda related crashes and a 13% drop in the motor vehicle. This is a big difference since 2009 and since 2011 when the road safety project was launched in the district. The latest accidents have been between 7 and 9 pm which indicates less enforcement and lack of the speed gun as many motorists tend to speed during this hours. There is need of addressing this gap if accidents are to reduce.

John told YOURS:

For me personally,the YOURS training was the sparking plug that lit up my road safety torch. Everything was there but one element was missing and thanks to the YOURS training,the torch burns bright and the results are here.

Another trained facilitators, Mr Joel Njoroge has, since attending the training, been inspired to write two poems about the importance of road safety. We reproduce one of them here: 

Read more about our Training of Facilitators Kenya here