Last Friday, July 16, the Global Youth Coalition along with UNITE 2030, FIA Foundation, and Restless Development officially launched the Youth Manifesto – a document that presents the main issues and priorities young people face as it relates to the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Youth Manifesto
The Youth Manifesto is a product of a polling system that was launched last September 2020 during the 75^thUN General Assembly called “nothing for us without us”. The poll asked young people about the biggest challenges they face which were then discussed through the UN75 Dialogue. All these ideas and opinions were gathered in a document that supports the demands of the youth when it comes to the global agenda.

The document emphasizes that young people are often “seen but not heard” stating that this was caused by the lack of meaningful youth engagement on issues that matter, lack of investment, and lack of political will at all levels of decision-making. 

The Manifesto presents the everyday struggles of young people around the world, specifically unemployment, quality education, health and well-being, sustainable cities and communities, climate change, and road safety. To address these issues, through the manifesto, young people are demanding advocacy and collaboration, data and investments, and human-centered and community-based actions

Official launch
The launch featured different youth leaders from around the world to talk more about Manifesto. The Global Youth Coalition was represented by Thiago Gruner from Brazil, Soumita Chakraborty from India, and Simon Patrick Obi from Nigeria.

Soumita talked about the urgency of addressing the climate crisis and talked about how it connected with road safety. “Climate change is not anymore is an event that will take place in the future, it is already here. I would like to highlight that, among others, transportation is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions hence climate action definitely needs to be planned for in accordance to sustainable mobility and efforts to de-carbonize the transport sector”.

Simon talked about the importance and necessity of involving young people in policymaking and decision-making efforts saying that “we have the solution”, especially when it comes to the leading killer of young people worldwide; road crashes.  

“Just like the way the world rose up to the challenges of COVID, we are also calling the world to rise up to the challenge of road traffic crashes. We’re telling leaders and stakeholders of the world to start engaging young people. Start involving us in policymaking, start reaching out to us and that way, we are able to solve this problem”. – Simon Patrick Obi 

The manifesto was written by youth leaders of the different organizations who worked on the manifesto; Thiago Gruner from the Coalition, Shagun Sharma from Restless Development, Linda Ngozwana from UNITE 2030, and Kristeena Monteith from the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth. 

ACCESS YOUTH MANIFESTO 

The second week of the #ArtforRoadSafety challenge kicks off today with our artist Sylar Rober Ssempijja from Uganda. Art for Road Safety is the first challenge for safer mobility on the African continent. Held in Egypt, Uganda, and Senegal, the purpose of the challenge is to change behaviors and empower young people to raise awareness on road safety through artistic intervention.

The challenge runs for three weeks that began last Tuesday, July 6 with Ahmed Fathy (Elna2ash) from Egypt and will continue in Uganda for the second week and Senegal for the third. The Art for Road Safety is the first challenge for safer mobility on the African continent. Its goal is to raise awareness on issues around road safety through creative interventions.

The second week focuses on Sylar Rober Ssempijja from Uganda. Robert is a Ugandan dancer, breakdancer, choreographer, and teacher. He uses dance and art to tackle cultural issues.

Through his art, Robert draws attention to the importance of wearing helmets to save the lives of individuals, friends, and family. His message, “Protect your head. Save lives”. 

To participate in this week’s challenge, you will need to reinterpret or reproduce Robert’s Yambala Helmet dance! Be creative and have fun!

Follow these instructions to take part in the challenge; (1) Watch Robert’s #YambalaHelmet dance and download the song by going to bit.ly/yambalahelmet so you can dance to it yourself, (2) Record yourself doing the dance! Be creative and have fun!, (3) Post the video on your social media channels and tag the Coalition, and (4) Use the hashtags #ArtforRoadSafety, #YambalaHelmet, and #YourHelmetYourLife

Each artist for the Art for Road Safety Challenge offers a different message that helps raise awareness on road safety issues identified in their respective countries.

Make sure to follow the Coalition to stay updated on the #ArtforRoadSafety challenge.

WATCH THE CHALLENGE VIDEO HERE 

The ECOSOC High-Level Statement
The statement was created and circulated in accordance with paragraphs 30 and 31 of the ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 that states that relevant statements related to the work of the council may be submitted by organizations in general consultative status and special consultative status on subjects in which these organizations have special competence.

The statement will be part of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) which serves as the UN central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. The HLPF and the statement will provide full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies.

Last week from 5 to 8 July, FIA – Federation Internationale De L’Automobile launched the 2021 FIA Conference. The conference was held in Monaco and was the first eConference Sport and Mobility event by the organization. During the conference, Member Clubs’ Presidents, senior executives from affiliated organizations, and global leaders and experts reaffirmed the will to increase positive contributions for motorsport and mobility to society. 

Opening session: building back better
The Conference was formally opened by FIA President, Jean Todt. H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco was also present during the Conference where he highlighted the event’s role in the future of ensuring sustainable mobility across the globe.

During the Conference, leaders and mobility experts also reflected on the solidarity shown during the COVID-19 crisis and the opportunity it created to increase the positive contributions of the motorsport and mobility sector to the general community.

During his speech, FIA Deputy President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism, Thierry Willemarck, highlighted how sustainable mobility connects with green energy saying “the future of sustainable mobility goes hand-in-hand with the question of clean energy and energy transition.”

Youth and sustainable mobility
Featured during the Conference were different sessions that talked about the motor industry and sustainable transportation. YOURS Head of Communications Manpreet Darroch joined Rafaela Machado from iRAP – International Road Assessment Programme and Ian Jack from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) in a session called Towards the Next Decade of Action: Youth Engagement.

During the session, Conference moderator Edie Lush highlighted that young people play a vital role in the future of mobility and that young people have a powerful voice that can be used to advocate for road safety.

This was echoed by Rafaela Machado saying, “We need to let youth know the power that they have and what they can do about road safety.” She talked about how iRAP’s Star Rating for Schools Methodology is one of the tools that can empower young people to take action in their communities and their regions.  

Manpreet Darroch talked about how young people are taking the lead when it comes to road safety and sustainable mobility efforts. “A lot of young people are now stepping up, knowing that their peers are getting killed on the world’s roads. Youth are powerful activists; they are not just the victims”.  

Ian talked about how CAA is engaging young people through education programs that help raise road safety awareness and also help involve youth in their projects and activities.

The #PurposeDriven movement launched by FIA will continue to mobilize the general public and its partners to address the United Nation’s call for action to achieve the goals and targets in the decade of action.

MORE ABOUT FIA CONFERENCE 2021  

Today, July 7, the Coalition is celebrating the anniversary of its launch! The Global Youth Coalition was initiated by YOURS – Youth for Road Safety and is a direct follow-up after the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety. The Coalition unites individual youth and organizations for road safety and sustainable mobility and offers opportunities, skills, resources, capacity development, and partnerships for its members so that they maximize their impact on road safety and meaningful youth involvement in their respective countries and communities. 

Since its launch last 7 July 2020, the Coalition has gained over 500 members from 96 different countries worldwide. Empowering its members, the Coalition has been featured in multiple local and global events that highlight the role of young people in achieving the targets listed in the Global Goals. 

Made possible by our partners, our members are empowered to take action to further road safety and sustainable mobility efforts through meaningful youth involvement.

”We are particularly proud to support the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety through our TotalEnergies Foundation program. We recognize that young leaders have a key role to play in advocating for safe mobility and in mobilizing around national and regional initiatives, in the frame of the 2021-2030 Decade for Road Safety. We also believe in joining forces, which is why TotalEnergies is for instance actively promoting the #ArtforRoadSafety challenge, currently going on in Egypt, Senegal and Uganda. Congratulations on the work done during this past year and please do keep claiming your space!” – Bruno Courme, Director of TotalEnergies Foundation

Since the beginning of its launch, partners of the Coalition have continuously expressed their support for road safety and meaningful youth participation. For the anniversary, partners have reaffirmed their commitment to the Coalition and its leaders.

”The Michelin Corporate Foundation wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. In 2020, The Michelin Foundation joined the Global Youth Coalition, giving support to the promotion of road safety among young people throughout the world. Based on the experience acquired during this year, thanks to the Youth Coalition work, we have a vision for a safer society and strive to achieve the UN goal of reducing road deaths by 50% in 2030” – Theodore Zreik, Corporate Public Affairs, Michelin Foundation

Read about the events and activities members of the Coalition have led and taken part in by visiting our news page. 

Through our members and partners, the Coalition has created a strong group of youth leaders who are raising their voices and are joining together to ensure meaningful youth participation in road safety and sustainable mobility and are also taking evidence-based actions to empower youth leaders and reduce road traffic injuries in their communities. 

“The Coalition is family! It keeps me in the spirit of saving lives. This is home for me, the members and colleagues are amazing people full of innovative ideas. l always learn new things every day and trust me there are huge opportunities for growth.” – Tendekayi Marapara, Coalition Regional Leader for Africa 

The Coalition is a growing and thriving youth network of strong leaders working to keep youth around the world safe on the world’s roads. Get involved today by joining here.

We have some activities you could take part in to commemorate the Coalition’s first year! Click the link below!

CELEBRATE THE COALITION ANNIVERSARY