Civil society is looking to the High-level Meeting on Road Safety in New York in June 2022 with an equal sense of excitement and hope. The Second Decade of Action for Road Safety has started, with its Global Plan in place, and the Supporting Event for the High-level Meeting in December 2021 has built high expectations that the High-level Meeting will be an important milestone in the global effort to reduce the unacceptable number of people killed on our roads, every minute, every day and every year. We hope that the High-level Meeting will set the stage for real leadership, allocation of resources and implementation of actions to meet this objective.

However, the disastrous war in Ukraine gives us cause for great concern with regards to the chances of ensuring successful negotiations of the High-level Meeting Declaration. It appears very likely that a large number of United Nations Member States will be reluctant to engage in a dialogue led by the Russian Mission to the UN and that we will lose the opportunity to negotiate a powerful and unifying text that is so critically needed to give momentum to the Second Decade of Action.

For more than a decade the Russian Federation had been playing a constructive and leading role at the United Nations on the Global Road Safety agenda. Yet through its invasion of Ukraine, which has received condemnation by the majority of the UN General Assembly, Russia has forfeited any credibility to lead on a major issue of global public health. We urge the Russian Federation to voluntarily step aside from its current negotiating role. As an alternative it could be considered that Sweden could share this responsibility with Cote D’Ivoire, given its success in hosting the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm in February 2020.

We must find a way forward. Without it, we are concerned that the vital opportunity to make a real change for road safety that will save the lives of many thousands of people around the world every year may be missed.

YOURS – Youth for Road Safety Executive Director Floor Lieshout will join the International Transport Forum (ITF) in a virtual event to commemorate International Women’s Day 2022. The session will be guided by the topic; Women and Road Safety: Are we on track to meet SDG Target 3.6? It’s happening next Tuesday, 8 March, from 11 AM to 12 PM CET. Registrations are open!

Transport and Inclusive societies
The session will fit into the theme of the ITF Summit 2022; Transport for Inclusive Societies. It will delve into the mobility topic with a special focus on how it affects more vulnerable sectors which include women.

Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), road safety falls under SDG 3: Health and Well-Being. The pandemic has revealed how important mobility is for people while also highlighting how the transport system rarely caters to the needs of different societal sectors. The ITF asks what things still need to be done over the next eight years to reach the target of halving road-related deaths and injuries by 2030.

The topic will particularly be discussed during the Ministerial Roundtable happening in May and will provide input for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Road Safety happening at the end of June.

About the event
The session is part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) March on Gender Programme which features a series of events throughout the month of March that focus on fender aspects of different policy discussions.

The first session will review the current state of road safety at both global and regional levels. The discussion will revolve around the question; how are the needs of women being taken into account in the formulation of road safety policies? This is the session we will be joining.

The second one will address the issue of road safety equipment in vehicles that have been traditionally designed based on male crash dummies. The session will highlight how serious the implications are for women and will also look into different measures to address these issues.

Join the event to learn more! 

REGISTER HERE

YOURS – Youth for Road Safety is continuously working on its role as the growing authority on youth and road safety issues both locally and globally. To ensure that the organization moves with the changing needs of young people and the road safety and sustainable mobility sector, we brought in new and capable people who can help further the road safety and youth agendas. We are pleased to present the people behind the YOURS team!

FLOOR LIESHOUT, Executive Director 
As the Executive Director, Floor takes on the leadership role of the organization. He oversees the projects and activities under YOURS and the Global Youth Coalition, ensuring that it is aligned with the road safety agenda presented in the new Decade of Action for Road Safety and the 2030 Agenda for Road Safety. Floor is a native of The Netherlands and holds an engineering degree. He started his road safety career as a youth advocate when he was 18 years old.

MANPREET DARROCH, Capacity Development Director 
Manpreet is leading all capacity and knowledge development activities and initiatives of YOURS and the Youth Coalition. As Capacity Development Director, he will provide technical leadership to capacity-building strategies for improving the knowledge of our youth leaders. Manpreet is an award-winning campaigner who has been working in youth and road safety for over a decade.

STEFANIA MINNITI, Advocacy Director
As the Advocacy Director, Stefania will provide leadership and strategic direction for YOURS’ advocacy work. She is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s long-term strategy and work plan. She will also manage the network for relevant stakeholders and clients working with YOURS and the Youth Coalition. Stefania is from Italy, and she has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations and a Master’s Degree in International Development Cooperation.

RAQUEL BARRIOS, Projects Director 
Raquel, as the Projects Director, assumes the leadership role of monitoring and supervising the organization’s projects and activity dashboard. She also works to ensure the strategic direction and accountability of the YOURS and Youth Coalition projects on both global and local levels. Raquel was born in Nicaragua but she currently lives in Madrid. She has always worked in the non-profit sector with different development causes, such as poverty, inequalities, etc.

IVÁN VÍQUEZ SOLÓRZANO, Senior Project Manager 
Taking on the Senior Project Manager role, Iván handles key projects of the Youth Coalition. He works on global campaigns, closely coordinating with partners and the youth members to ensure that the goals and objectives of the campaigns are met and that the project is successfully implemented across all channels and platforms. Ivan is originally from Costa Rica. He has previously worked in branding and regularly travels across the world, learning about different cultures and connecting with different people. 

SANA’A KHASAWNEH, Junior Project Manager 
Sana’a, as the Junior Project Manager, will handle events under the Youth Coalition. She is tasked with the conceptualization, implementation, and assessment of these projects, ensuring that they are able to cater to the needs of the members and are aligned with the road safety agenda. She also works on the recruitment and engagement of Youth Coalition members. Sana’a s an architect with a master’s degree in road safety management.

MAOLIN MACATANGAY, Communications Manager 
As the Communications Manager, Mao oversees all the comms around YOURS and the Youth Coalition. She creates and leads efforts to disseminate information and updates to partners, stakeholders, and members of the Youth Coalition. She also manages the websites and the social media channels of both YOURS and the Youth Coalition. Mao has a Master’s degree in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines and has worked in comms since 2016.

To learn more about the team and our activities, go to our website!

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURS 

Geneva, Switzerland – 2021 Local Actions winner and YOURS – Youth for Road Safety Junior Project Manager Sana’a Khasawneh recently won Best Road Safety Film for the youth category for her film مسألة ثواني: حملة توعية بالسلامة المرورية or “a matter of seconds”  during the Global Road Safety Film Festival organized by the Foundation Laser International (LIFE) in collaboration with United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) from the 21st to the 22nd of February. 

Road Safety Advocacy
The film, created in 2021 and initially released during World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims that same year, was part of Sanaa’s Local Actions project, Up to Zer0. مسألة ثواني: حملة توعية بالسلامة المرورية or “a matter of seconds” served as a road safety campaign that highlighted the road safety situation in Jordan, especially the experiences of male drivers and the importance of wearing seatbelts.

The story follows two friends, Ali and Ahmad, from their experience of celebrating a happy occasion to suffering the consequences of a road crash. The scenario shows road safety issues often faced by Jordanian youth and seeks to raise awareness on the key risk factors that could put road users at risk of a road crash. 

The video leaves viewers with the message “a moment of recklessness will result in a lifetime of regret. Always be careful on the roads so you and the ones you love arrive safely.” Apart from Sana’a as the executive director, the production team was joined by Bayan Abuta’ema and Taimaa Al-Twaisii as the producers, Ahmad Haddad as the editor, and Asem Yousef as the music producer. The characters were played by Omar Ababneh and Mohammed Al-Attar. 

Global Road Safety Film Festival
The 2022 Film Festival is the 8th edition of the Global Road Safety Film Festival, under the theme “For a smart and safe mobility”. The festival featured ten different themes; protecting children, youth, women, driving under influence, distracted driving, speed, safe equipment, smart and safe mobility, remembrance, and Moments2Live4.

Each of the films presented different realities anchored on different themes. It featured the submissions for the #Moments2Live4 – a campaign launched by the UNRSF that showcases the value of life, emphasizing that there are “so many moments to live for”. 

The film festival celebrated creative ways how to bring focus on important issues in creative and engaging ways. Shortlisted participants were invited to Geneva to participate in the awarding ceremony and to discuss their projects and different advocacy efforts.

WATCH BEST FILM IN YOUTH CATEGORY 

Tuesday, February 15 – The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, YOURS – Youth for Road Safety, African Union, and the European Union organized “Road Safety and Youth in Africa”, an official side-event to Africa-Europe Week. The event featured youth leaders and high-level policymakers engaged in an intergenerational dialogue to discuss the situation young people faced on African roads. 

From the discussion, the Youth Coalition produced a recommendation document to promote and achieve meaningful youth engagement in the design and development of policies related to road safety and sustainable mobility.

The Youth Coalition’s recommendation from the Road Safety and Youth in Africa side-event has been included in the Joint Outcomes of the Youth Track.

”Considering that road traffic crashes have been the biggest killer of young people aged 15-29 for more than a decade and that the road fatality rate in Africa is now six times that of the EU, we call on decisionmakers from both the AU and the EU, as well as at national and local level in Africa to consider implementing the youth recommendations from the intergenerational dialogue on how to improve road safety for youth in Africa, held in the framework of the Africa-Europe Week.

The recommendations include references to increased funding and more meaningful participation for young people to safeguard the lives and futures of youth across Africa.”

Recommendations from young people to stakeholders and policymakers 
Following the session, the Youth Coalition with its Youth Leadership Board developed a recommendation document for policymakers, decision-makers, and other stakeholders that serves as a guide on how to meaningfully engage with young people. It was based on the results of the discussion and the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety.

The document highlights the importance of having spaces for youth voices and youth representation within all stages of development and in the management of the policy-making processes on road safety and sustainable mobility.  It emphasizes the power and potential of youth as changemakers, not just in road safety but in global development efforts that will ideally result in the achievement of the targets in the 2030 Agenda. It echoes the demand of youth to ‘stop blaming us and start engaging us’.

Apart from recommendations, the document also lists down commitments of young people and asks for political will and investments to support and promote evidence-based solutions that will contribute to saving lives on the world’s roads. The commitments listed in the document also respond to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that connect with road safety and sustainable mobility.

The current road safety situation
The World Health Organization (WHO) records 1.35 million annual deaths caused by road traffic crashes with young people being the most affected sector in society. In the same amount of time, 42 road deaths per million are recorded in Europe while over 260 per million deaths are recorded in Africa.

However, despite young people being the most affected, they are rarely meaningfully engaged in spaces where they can contribute to the creation and implementation of projects around road safety and sustainable mobility. With road traffic crashes being the leading cause of death for youth aged 15-29, it is important and necessary to have youth leaders at the decision-making table. 

At present, the crisis is not just the road crashes but the lack of investment in road safety and meaningful youth participation. This is especially alarming in the African region because road crashes rates remain at an alarming high. 

To address these issues, the Youth Coalition will continue elevating the voices of young people and supporting them at the decision-making table. Check out our links to get involved!

READ OUR OUTCOME AND RECOMMENDATION DOCUMENT