One of the key pillars of our activities here at YOURS is to unite young people all around the world. We aim to bring those incredible youth organizations, individuals, projects and campaigns around the world together to unite as one strong voice for road safety. Once again, this was visible in the our global youth and road safety network’s involvement in the campaign for the Second United Nations Road Safety Week; The Long Short Walk.

Since 2010, we have been running global campaigns for our Global Youth Network for Road Safety to engage with and illustrate to the world that young people from different backgrounds and nations are united on promoting road safety. Since the Global Road Safety Week, which took place from 6-12th May 2013, some members from our network have been sharing their involvement in the Long Short Walk Campaign, illustrating the incredible ingenuity and innovation by young people when it comes sharing a road safety message. Here we feature some of the activities shared by our youth members!

Over in Geogia, our network member and director of the Georgia Alliance for Safe Roads, Maya Kobalia took the Long Short Walk to national television! The alliance strongly believes that there is value for all – Georgian Government, local NGO’s and Media – to continue working together in the area of road safety in order to further raise awareness and induce action.  Here’s Georgian TV show ”Sxva Shuadge” hosting:

Maya Kobalia – “Georgian Alliance for Safe Roads”, Exevutive Director Tea Shamatava -disabled after the road crash caused by a drunk driver Ana Barkaia – NGO ”Children of Georgia”, Phycologist  Giorgi Bichashvili – 112 [a 24-hour emergency response center that receives emergency calls from all over Georgia via united emergency number – 1-1-2], Director. Maya told us, “The episode from the TV show, dedicated to the Second UN Global Road Safety Week as well as to the Georgian road safety in general, will serve as a reminder to everyone that if we think carefully before we drive/cross the street, it can save lives”. More photos are attached in the right column!

Over in The Gambia, our network members from the National Youth Parliament of the Gambia and its strong youth and road safety advocate; Mr Siaka Dba held a massive road safety pedestrian march through the country receiving lots of national press and media attention. They engaged the Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure engaged with the project and supported the march. News clippings are attached in the right column along with photos of the event.

Over in Brazil, our network member Vida Urgente took to the streets of Brazil with YOURS branded signboards and engaged with people with their road safety message. They also included passing on road safety information to their fellow road users and seen in the pictures in the right column. They went about engaging a range of people and the picture above includes staff of Vida Urgente taking the walk for road safety.

Over in Uganda, Africa, our regular columns Brian Bilal Mwebaze teamed up with the Uganda Red Cross to hold a walk alongside a range of other activities and events. As well as a football tournament, painting zebra crossing and a concert, in Uganda, they took lots of photos for the Long Short Walk Campaign. The music festival for road safety attracted lots of media attention and raised the profile of pedestrian safety in the country.

As part of the VYBZING Forum of 2013, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) via their youth outreach programme set an introduction to the forum by initiating an ‘animated video challenge’ to the youth of Saint Lucia to create educational videos on the theme of road safety. The challenge was undertaken by the youth and the winners have been announced.

The VYBZING Animated Video Challenge sponsored by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in collaboration with the St. Lucia. Ministry of Youth Development and Sports was designed to give Entrants the opportunity to use their creativity in producing an animated video on ‘road safety’ which is a major challenge that impacts the safety and security of youth and their ability to contribute to the development of their communities. Prizes were awarded to the Entrants who submit the best videos as determined by the judges in their sole discretion at the VYBZING Forum.

Addressing the topic “Youth and Road Safety: Save and Life, Save a Future”, the challenge was to develop a two minute animated video utilizing one or more risk factors that will increase awareness amongst your peers of the risk factors to Road Safety. (Risk factors included: non-use of seatbelts, speeding, drinking alcohol and drug use, non-use of helmets, distracted driving, fatigue and not being visible enough on the roads)

The Animated Video Challenge began at 3:00pm EST on March 8, 2013 and ended at midnight EST on May 3, 2013. The VYBZING Animated Video Challenge was designed to give Entrants the opportunity to submit videos that respond to the issue of Road Safety and Youth. Prizes awarded to the Entrants who submitted the best entries as determined by the judges were:

1. First Prize – $1,500 (US) Visa gift card
2. Second Prize – $1,000 (US) Visa gift card
3. Third prize – $650.00(US) Visa gift card
4. People’s Choice Award of $250.00(US) Visa gift card

The winners of the challenge were as follows, videos appear in the right column in the following order:

This video focused on several risk factors including texting and driving, drug driving and drink driving as well as speeding through a clever and catchy rap about road safety. It uses a creative illustration of events of a driver and appears in the style of a music video. It won first prize in the challenge and was well received when viewed by the delegates of the VYBZING forum.

The second place video focused on the dangers of texting and driving and plays a scenario through a road; one where texting and driving occurs and the other with a safe scenario. The video is incredibly creative and tackles the concept of a young man texting his girlfriend while driving but also becoming distracted in his thoughts, which results in tragic consequences. This video also won the ‘people’s choice award’ as voted by web viewers.

This third place video focused on following key pedestrian safety rules as defined in Saint Lucia. It looks at how many factors can contribute to a road crash and fatality and uses as second scene scenario to explain how things can go wrong as a road user.

The videos illustrate the great creativity of youth. Given a brief of focusing on road safety risk factors, the young people of Saint Lucia created an amazing array of visual creations and interpretations of putting forward a road safety message to their peers. When shown the videos to the VYBZING forum, it was clear that the videos came across well and fitted the language of the youth of Saint Lucia.

On 15-17th May 2013, YOURS partnered with the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Saint Lucia to run the VYBZING Forum on the topic of youth and road safety. The three day forum was a highly interactive workshop and at the end the participants left the forum as road safety advocates and ambassadors ready to create their own proposals for a road safety project in Saint Lucia.

CDB and Youth ‘VYBZING’ Outreach Programme is a platform for youth engagement with emphasis on youth empowerment and participation in the development process.  It facilitates communication among youth and with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on social and economic development issues and challenges that are impacting their lives. This year, CDB alongside Government Ministries of St Lucia; Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Ministry of Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport, have partnered with YOURS to run the VYBZING Forum on youth and road safety issues, themed ‘ Road Safety: Save a Life, Save a Future’.

The forum was a high energy and completely interactive learning experience and focused on localized road safety knowledge-sharing through a youth orientated training. Every year, VYBZING tackles an issue of importance in relation to young people and youth issues and this year, it focused on addressing the biggest killer of young people globally; road traffic crashes.

Supported by the Government of Saint Lucia and initiated by CDB Youth, the forum offered 30 youth leaders from around Saint Lucia the opportunity to be trained in key concepts of road safety through YOURS’ Capacity Development Programme. Honourable Shawn Edward, Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Ministry of Youth Development and Sports also encouraged the youth to take what they learn from the training and share it with their peers. Ms Angela Parris, Manager, Information Services Unit, Caribbean Development Bank and Coordinator of CDB VYBZING opened the forum with a word to the youth that this is the young people’s opportunity to make a change in their country through active participation in VYBZING forum and to use the skills and knowledge that they gain to enact real change on the ground in Saint Lucia.

The Forum was comprised of a range of activities designed by YOURS to train the youth on road safety topics. It began with friendly introductions and ice-breakers followed by an interactive session on the scope of the road safety problem in the world and Saint Lucia.

The youth came to realize that while Saint Lucia has a relatively small population of around 170,000 inhabitants, the country still experiences a high ratio of road deaths per 100,000 of the population; the amount of deaths ranges from 14-18 per 100,000 while in Europe countries such as the Netherlands and the UK have a considerably lower average of 3.7-4.0 per 100,000. The session debunked the notion that more vehicles means more road deaths with the youth acknolwedging the ‘safe systems approach’ where a range of factors; safe infrastructure, safe vechiles, safe road users and post-crash care, play an important role in reducing road deaths.

The delegates went on to understand the disproportion of genders affected in road crashes and exlpored reasons why youth are at particular risk on the roads due to inexperience, age and gender issues. After exploring some of the theory behind road crashes and youth, the delegates undertook a session on distracted driving on day one of the training. 

On day 2, the youth undertook training in project management based on concepts in the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit, learning about the four stages of project management as well as creating their own own pitch proposal in an ‘business style’ presentation to a panel of judges, who offered feedback and points for improvement. These ideas for grass roots projects were commended for their ingenuity, creativity and understanding of pursuing road safety projects as a multi-sectoral approach engaging a range of stakeholders. The day ended on a set of briefing activities on partnership building, networking, community participation and fundraising, which enabled the youth to understand how to keep their projects going.

Throughout the forum, the young people set aside points to be included in a ‘Youth Declaration for Road Safety’ calling upon decision makers in Saint Lucia and the Caribbean Region at large to enact decisions enabling better road safety for young people. On day three, these points of discussion culminated in the writing and adoption of the Youth Declaration for Road Safety – Saint Lucia 2013!

Amongst other things; the declaration called upon decision makers to:

• subscribe to and support the international movement proclaimed by the United Nations; the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020;
• invest in safe and forgiving roads. Provide safe footpaths, cycle-ways and crossing points, on streets with lower speed limits, particularly around schools and take immediate action on crash hotspots;
• include a comprehensive road safety strategy with a good data collection system in place to measure its impact and allocate adequate funds towards its implementation;
• enact and enforce road traffic laws on the use of seatbelts and helmets, set speed-limits, and a zero tolerance for distracted driving, alcohol– and drug use in traffic and boost your investment of financial resources to make safer roads;
• acknowledge the importance of the involvement of youth in road safety by: investing to empower youth to become a greater force for positive change in road safety including consistent and quality driver education;
• invest in quality post-crash care for (young) road victims and their reinstatement in society;
• ensure safe and affordable public transportation options. Protect drivers and passengers with the use of maintained buses, which are not overcrowded and which are regulated to ensure safety.

The declaration is to be presented by a group representing the participants of the forum to the 43rd Annual Board of Governors Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank tomorrow (23rd May 2013) where Prime Ministers of the Caribbean States and key decision makers will be present. A full report and video of the event will be available shortly!

Floor Lieshout, Director of YOURS said,

The VYBZING Forum is an annual youth event coordinated by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Ministries of Government, Development Institutions and Youth Organizations. The forum is hosted throughout the Caribbean and this year, CDB Youth have partnered with YOURS to deliver a Youth and Road Safety Workshop within the framework of VYBZING in St Lucia.

CDB and Youth ‘VYBZING’ Outreach Programme is a platform for youth engagement with emphasis on youth empowerment and participation in the development process.  It facilitates communication among youth and with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on social and economic development issues and challenges that are impacting their lives. This year, CDB alongside Government Ministries of St Lucia; Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Ministry of Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport, have partnered with YOURS to run the VYBZING Forum on youth and road safety issues, themed ‘ Road Safety: Save a Life, Save a Future’.

The forum takes place in the Ixora Conference Centre, Bay Gardens Inn, St Lucia and serves as a stunning backdrop for road safety empowerment, advocacy and action. Based on the Capacity Development Programme, this three day forum (15-17 May 2013) will engage a group of youth leaders from St Lucia to be trained on key elements of road safety, localized to a Caribbean context.

The aim of the forum is to culminate in a Youth Declaration for Road Safety in the Caribbean, which will call upon decision makers to enact road safety targeted at youth to save young lives and combat the biggest killer of young people worldwide; road traffic crashes. The initiative is part of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Youth VYBZING Outreach Programme.

The elements of the forum will focus on key trainings to be delivered by YOURS on the following topics:

• Opening introductions by Honorable Shawn Edward, Minister of Youth Development and Sports. Ministry of Youth Development and Sports.
• Presentations on Caribbean Road Safety by Chief Transport Officer for the St Lucia Ministry of Infrastructre, Port Services and Transport
• Interactive road saftey workshops on Youth and Road Traffic Injuries, Scope of the Road Safety Problem in St Lucia, The Caribbean and the World, Distracted Driving, Project Management, Implementing a Road Safety Project and Briefings to Keep Road Safety Projects going.
• Alongside this, training on the Youth Declaration for Road Safety for the Caribbean and the adoption of it will take place.

Floor Lieshout, Director of YOURS said,

This week marks the 2nd United Nations Global Road Safety Week which calls for pedestrian safety all around the world. Requested by the UN General Assembly, the Week will draw attention to the urgent need to better protect pedestrians worldwide, generate action on the measures needed to do so, and contribute to achieving the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 to save 5 million lives.

We are all pedestrians: on any given day – at a minimum – we begin and end most trips on foot. Yet due to a lack of attention to the needs of pedestrians, and a tendency to favour motorized transport, pedestrians are at risk of death, injuryand disability. While there is no single measure to adequately address the range of risks to pedestrians across various settings, there are many steps that can be taken to improve their safety.

The World Health Organization is calling on governments to take concrete actions to improve the safety of pedestrians.The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 offers a broad framework for drawing attention to the needs of pedestrians and putting in place the measures that exist to make walking safe. Ensuring the safety of pedestrians will encourage walking, which impacts positively on health and the environment. Among its many advantages, walking requires no fare, no fuel, no licence and no registration. It is integral to the livability and sustainability of our communities and should regain its place as a safe, convenient and pleasant option for most trips.

Make Walking Safe is a brief overview of pedestrian safety around the world. It covers the following topics:

• Who are killed and injured on the roads as pedestrians?
• How are pedestrian deaths distributed around the world?
• Where and when do the pedestrians collisions occur?
• What happens in a pedestrian collision?
• What are the consequences for injured pedestrians?
• What are the major risks for pedestrians?
• What measures can be taken to protect pedestrians?

You can read more about the UN Road Safety Week in the Press Release attached alongside the Make Walking Safe Advocacy Document in the attachements.