With the release of our latest policy brief on gender equality and safe and secure mobility, our leaders have been working hard to establish the linkages between road safety and the Global Goals. Olulfunke Afesojaye (Nigeria), one of our SDG Champions for Gender Equality in Road Safety, joined the Nalafem Summit last July 1 to represent the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. 

The Nalafem Summit creates a platform for convening Nigerian feminists across the African continent. According to Nala Feminist Collective (NalaFEM), “the forum aims to foster, enable, and mobilize women and girls across Africa and the diaspora in solidarity with Nigerian activists.” It also provides a space for advocacy, mentorship, solidarity, and partnerships.

This year, the summit featured renowned activists and gender advocates  Aisha Yesufu,  Abiola Akinyode, Djibril Dialo, Natasha Kagumirea. Also present were stakeholders like the Minister of Women Affairs and the  Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nation in the person of H.E Amb.Fatima Kyari Mohammed , Mr. Sam Itode , and many others.

Olufunke joined these esteemed participants as a delegate for the Summit. Speaking with different leaders and representatives present, Olufunke shared some key facts and figures about how women are more at risk in the event of road traffic crashes. She also shared some case studies that shed light on the aftermath of women in the face of unsafe road infrastructure, unsustainable modes of transport, and a mobility system that was designed for the opposite sex.

Despite the present situation women are subject to on the road, Olufunke shared that there have been efforts to address these issues through organizations like Nala and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.

With other participants, she shared the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and the Youth Coalition Policy Briefs as resources that help elevate the call for ending gender discrimination, promoting intergenerational co-leadership, and inclusive, equitable and quality education, especially on road safety and sustainable mobility. 

Olufunke had also shared conversations about how road crashes are the leading cause of death among young people and how it connects with sustainable development.

As a delegate, she discussed how road safety relates to the rest of the Global Goals and how young people play a crucial role in achieving the SDG targets in road safety and in other areas. She shared how the Youth Coalition, through the SDG champions, has developed policy briefs as advocacy tools that connect road safety with the wider SDG Agenda.

“We call on decision-makers at the international, national, regional, and local levels to foster systematic and meaningful youth participation at all stages of policymaking to proactively deliver intergenerational equity. Build alliances and develop a common agenda with other NGOs who work on road safety or interlinking agendas and  SDGs such as climate action, sustainable cities, health and gender equality.”

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New York, USA – Last week, June 30, delegates from the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety flew to represent young people worldwide during the High-Level Meeting on Road Safety. Estiara Ellizar (Indonesia), Jacob Smith (USA), Simon Patrick Obi (Nigeria), and Yasmine Al Moghrabi (Lebanon) along with our team led an official side event during the Meeting that called on local and global leaders to meaningfully engage with youth when it comes to all stages of decision-making in road safety and sustainable mobility.

Art, road safety, and meaningful youth engagement 
“Stop Blaming Us & Start Engaging Us,” this was the call our young delegates elevated during the High-Level Meeting, highlighted during our official side event. We worked closely with Lisa Russell, Founder of Create2030, to ensure that the event was informative and empowering as well as creatively delivered through dance, music, and other artistic interpretations. 

Lisa shared how art can be used to draw attention and raise awareness around the road safety and youth agenda. “Artists have a role and place in this movement and a lot of times we have challenges that have been similar to what young people face in this environment of feeling like a lot of our participation is tokenized but are we really involved in the conversation?” 

The event was officially opened by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director of Social Determinants of Health of WHO Etienne Krug, and United Nations Special Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake. 

Each of our speakers spoke about why it’s so important to have young people working with all stakeholders to address the biggest killer of youth; road traffic crashes. In his speech, Etienne shared the unacceptable reality youth have to live with. 

“It’s true, you guys have inherited a dirty, unsafe, unsustainable transport system – and you are blamed for it. You’re blamed because you are dying on the roads and of course, this is unacceptable.” – Etienne Krug 

Supporting the need to protect and engage youth, Jayathma emphasizes that youth have started and continue to rise up to the world’s challenges ‘with or without the world noticing.’ 

Start engaging us
The event continued with an intergenerational dialogue between representatives of the Youth Coalition Yasmine Al Moghrabi and Simon Patrick Obi with Vice Minister of Planning and Regulation Of the Ministry of Public Work, Dominican Republic H.E. Angel Salvador Tejeda and Lord Mayor of Kampala City, Uganda H.E. Erias Lukwago. The dialogue was moderated by Professor Adnan Hyder from George Washington University. 

The panelists spoke about their thoughts on youth engagement, shedding light on how different sectors and generations understand youth and road safety. Despite differences in perspectives brought on by the respective status quos of the different countries, the similarity is reflected in the fact that youth are the victims and that the system needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of youth and to involve them. 

New York, USA – Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety Youth Leadership Board Member Estiara Ellizar and North America Regional Leader Jacob Smith joined a multi-stakeholder panel for the High-Level Meeting on Road Safety to represent the demands of young people to decision-makers for road safety. The panel was held on July 1, the second day of the High-Level Meeting, at the United Nations Headquarters. 

The panel discussion revolved around mobilizing all stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the Global Plan and achieve a 50% reduction in road-related deaths and injuries. 

Jacob represented YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, posing a question for all stakeholders present on behalf of young people around the world. During his intervention, Jacob asked leaders about including young people in actions to address road safety and other development issues. 

Estiara was one of the panelists of the session. She joined the Minister of Equipment and Transport from Mauritania H.E. Mr. Mokhtar Ahmed El Yedali, Executive Director of FIA Foundation Mr. Saul Billingsley, and President of the Foundation of Gonzalo Rodriguez in Uruguay Ms. Fernanda Rodriguez. 

Talking about addressing the biggest killer of youth, Estiara calls on local and global leaders to make the right decision and have youth represented in all stages of policymaking and decision-making that have to do with road safety and sustainable mobility. 

“Will you make the right decision today to ensure that youth are meaningfully engaged and represented in all decision-making processes that affect road safety or will you explain to your children, to your grandchildren in 2030 that you failed to seize the opportunity to stop the number one killer on the roads?” 

The sessions continued with other stakeholders. Other topics were around incorporating road safety into sustainable development politically and sustained domestic investment and international financing for capacity building and development assistance in evidence-based road safety interventions.

READ ABOUT OUR OFFICIAL HLM SIDE EVENT 

London, United Kingdom – Last Tuesday, June 21, our youth leader Oliva Nalwadda from Uganda joined a road safety panel during the FIA Foundation Forum to talk about meaningful youth participation. She delivered a powerful message calling on leaders to stop blaming youth and to start protecting and engaging them.

What is meaningful youth participation?
For her intervention, Oliva was asked about how governments and donors should engage with young people in their respective capacities. To which, Oliva threw a few questions back, asking the audience and the rest of the panelists about what it means to meaningfully engage with young people.

“What is meaningful youth engagement? Is it allocating 3% of your budget to youth initiatives? Is it having a youth leadership board within the structure of the organization? Is it too complex for us to achieve?” 

Oliva doubles down by explaining how young people make up the biggest percentage of the world’s population and yet the biggest majority of the world’s leaders are made up of older generations. “Our fear is so often that when we are not part of the decision-making procedure, we are forgotten”.

Answering the question, Oliva explained that meaningfully engaging with youth means including them as equal partners in addressing road safety and sustainable mobility issues.

Young people are ready
After talking about meaningful youth engagement, Oliva emphasized to the panel and the rest of the audience that young people are ready and are already taking action for road safety. She shared that young people are already leading projects, engaging with stakeholders, organizing themselves into coalitions, and more. 

She calls on decision-makers and leaders to start implementing the commitments they made to involve and engage young people. Oliva tells leaders to work with youth saying “We are willing to work with you so work with us. We are asking for a chance.” 

Led by FIA Foundation’s Avi Silverman, Oliva joined Etienne Krug from the World Health Organization, Jennifer Homendy from the National Transportation Safety Board, Nneka Henry from the United Nations Road Safety Fund, Jean Todt from the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, and David Ward from Towards Zero Foundation in the panel.

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“For many years, youth have always been seen as problematic road users. Today, we will prove that we can be part of the solution and our voices should be taken into consideration by the political leaders at the decision-making table. We’re ready to #ClaimingOurSpace!” – Estiara Ellizar, Youth Leadership Board member. Our youth representatives are going to be joining the High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Road Safety this coming 30th June.

We are bringing youth voices to the highest echelons of leadership to show local and global leaders that young people are ready to take action and that it is time they were included in all levels of decision-making when it comes to road safety and sustainable mobility. 

The high-level meeting consists of an opening statement, a plenary segment, multi-stakeholder thematic panels, and a closing statement. It will view the global agenda through a road safety lens, assessing the progress made in attaining road safety-related SDG targets.

The Meeting will be a time for Members States and all involved partners to mobilize political leadership to address road safety needs around the world. Attendees and representatives will also address different road safety gaps and challenges, promote multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration, and assess the progress made in implementing the Global Plan for the Decade of Action at national and municipal levels. 

During the Meeting, our youth leaders will take part in two-part in two key events; host a global art exhibit inspired by the #ClaimingOurSpace Campaign and lead an official side event that will promote meaningful youth participation as a standard at all stages and levels of road safety and sustainable mobility policymaking processes. 

The meeting will be an opportunity for our youth to elevate their demands for decision-makers and policymakers for improved road safety and safe and sustainable modes of transport.

Through the exhibit, our leaders will highlight the road safety realities young people face and will show leaders and other stakeholders how youth are addressing these issues in an effort to protect themselves and their peers. The exhibit will feature six different art pieces from our local artists. 

The side event titled “Stop Blaming Us, Start Engaging Us” will be led by our very own Jacob Smith. Through the event, our youth leaders will; (1) promote the importance and necessity of an intergenerational dialogue between youth, government authorities, and multilateral organizations, (2) launch a Policymakers toolkit for meaningful youth participation in road safety, and (3) disseminate and promote the endorsement of the Policymakers toolkit with all stakeholders. 

The HLM will approve a concise and action-oriented political declaration agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations, to be submitted by the President of the General Assembly for adoption by the UN General Assembly. The Governments of Côte d’Ivoire and the Russian Federation have been tasked with leading these negotiations. 

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