We are delighted to announce that Michelin Corporate Foundation has partnered with YOURS – Youth for Road Safety to support the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety as a programme partner. YOURS is the initiator and the main organizer of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides guidance and ensures that the Coalition’s strategy is aligned with the international road safety agenda. Michelin Corporate Foundation was one of the main partners who sponsored the 2^nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety held last February 18, 2020 and are a founding partner member of YOURS.

The partnership between the Coalition and Michelin Corporate Foundation will invest and support in the Coalition’s work to empower youth across the globe. The partnership will help more young people to take meaningful action for safer mobility globally, uniting them to fight the biggest killer of youth worldwide; road traffic crashes.

Michelin Corporate Foundation joins Total Foundation as the Coalition’s current programme partners.

Youth Advisory Board Member, Ms. Maolin Macatangay said; “The Coalition continues to gather passionate and hardworking young people from all over the world who have a vested interest in road safety. With the resources from the Coalition and the support of our partners, the youth movement for road safety will continue to power through in both local and global settings. Investing in young people and in road safety is a great step in achieving the targets in the 2030 Agenda around safe mobility. It also gives youth the skills and resources to keep claiming their space for road safety at the decision-making table”. 

On the partnership, Floor Lieshout, Executive Director of YOURS said; “It is with much pleasure that we welcome the Michelin Corporate Foundation as programme partner to the Youth Coalition. They have been long-term supporters of our work and I am delighted we will add another chapter to our successful partnership and together continue our journey in making road safer for young people.” 

Talking about the long-term commitment and focus on youth and road safety, Florent Menegaux, CEO of Michelin & Michelin Corporate Foundation said “Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Michelin. We believe it is our responsibility to make mobility safer all over the world. Safe mobility is essential as it helps to make mobility better and more accessible to all. The involvement of the young generation is essential to meet the challenge of road safety. Involving young people means benefiting from their experience and their energy to imagine new solutions to make mobility safer everywhere in the world. Mobilizing young people around road safety also means raising awareness among future drivers and being by their side.” 

THE GLOBAL YOUTH COALITION 

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Notes to Editors
About the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety
The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety unites individual youth and organizations and is made up of more than 200 passionate young people from across the world who are taking action on safe mobility issues. It is underpinned by the principles of the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety.

The Coalition connects road safety to key related topics such as health, sustainable cities, climate change, education, poverty and equality.
www.claimingourspace.org

About YOURS – Youth for Road Safety
YOURS is a global non-profit organization that is a direct follow up of the United Nation’s first World Youth Assembly held in 2007. YOURS believes that young people have a right to be adequately informed, consulted, and empowered on road safety. Its mission is to act to make the world’s roads safer for young people everywhere.

YOURS believes that, to achieve SDG Target 3.6 under the New Decade of Action, youth need to lead the road safety revolution.

YOURS is a multi-award-winning organization, an official member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and has Consultative Status at UN ECOSOC.
www.youthforroadsafety.org

About Michelin Corporate Foundation 
Michelin Corporate Foundation exemplifies the Group’s social responsibility and aims at sponsoring long-term projects in the countries where Michelin is present.

Since its creation in 2014, the Foundation has embodied Michelin’s core values of solidarity and respect, backing projects which directly benefit to local communities in over thirty countries. Projects of general interest in line with the commitments and values of the Group, always “Helping people move forward”.

https://fondation.michelin.com/en/

For Media Inquiries Contact:
Manpreet Darroch
Head of Communications                                                                                         
YOURS – Youth for Road Safety
manpreet@youthforroadsafety.org

Aik Saath – Together As One
Together as One a UK Charity based in Slough, United Kingdom. Through Aik Saath – Together As One, young people are able to lead a range of projects that help maintain the safety and cohesiveness of the local community.

In recent years, Together As One has delivered “Road Code” – a UK youth-funded project that equips young people with skills to be safe passengers, safe drivers, and to speak out when they feel unsafe.

To help further the Road Code, YOURS joined Together as One in an online meeting to meet with youth volunteers from the organization. The conversation was about how young people could create a real impact in local communities around road safety and sustainable mobility and an introduction to road safety as a global issue.

Getting to know the road safety factors young people face
During the discussion, the participants’ general knowledge of road safety was assessed. Most of the information shared was about the negative practices that contributed to a large number of road crashes in both local and global communities. When asked about what came to mind when road safety was discussed, the participants gave answers that ranged from applying seatbelts to overcrowded hospitals.

Today, 18th February 2021 we are celebrating the first year anniversary of the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety! This time last year, more than 160 youth leaders from 75 countries came together and started our collective journey of #ClaimingOurSpace for safe mobility! It was a momentous occasion and we are so thankful we got to meet before the world dramatically changed!

The World Youth Assembly for Road Safety

The 2^nd WYA was a pre-event to the event under the framework of the 3^rd Ministerial Conference for road Safety. It was held in Stockholm, Sweden on February 18, 2020.

During the Assembly, the delegates and their organizations were empowered to achieve SDG Targets 3.6 – halving the number of road-related deaths and injuries by the year 2030 and 11.2 – provide access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

The main goal of the Assembly was to provide young people with the opportunity, resources, networks, and platform necessary to help prevent the premature death of their peers on the world’s roads.

The Assembly was initiated by YOURS – Youth for Road Safety and co-sponsored by the World Health Organizations (WHO) with partners, Michelin Corporate Foundation and Total Foundation. Partners of the Assembly were Fundación MAPFRE and VOLVO Group.

The Youth Assembly was organized for youth, by youth. The Global Youth Taskforce, a selected group of 11 young leaders from around the World, led the organization and creation of the event.

Out of the 2^nd WYA, two major outputs were produced, the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.

One year later

To celebrate this milestone, we caught up with the 2^nd WYA delegates and now members of the Global Youth Coalition about what they’ve been doing since the Assembly.

2^nd WYA delegates and Coalition members Alison Collard De Beaufort, Mariam Kukava, Nishant Bhatnagar, Dr. Nkateko Mnisi, and Tendekayi Marapara talked about their favorite moments during the WYA with experiences from meeting their fellow delegates to the artwork throughout the event.

Dr. Nkateko expressed that, for her, the best moment during the Assembly was when all the delegates read the Global Youth Statement together and chanted in support of it. She described the moment as “electrifying”.

Nishant recalled how the presentation of the Global Youth Statement during the 3^rd Ministerial Conference for Road Safety made it into the highlights of his experience. 

“My favorite moment during the Assembly was during the second day of the conference when we delivered the youth statement inside the hall full of ministers and delegations from all over the world,” – Nishant Bhatnagar

Since the Assembly, our delegates have been hard at work making sure to keep fighting for road safety, sustainable mobility, and meaningful youth involvement in their communities. Their work is guided by the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and is supported by the Global Youth Coalition.

JOIN THE GLOBAL YOUTH COALITION FOR ROAD SAFETY 

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is inviting YOUNGO – the official youth constituency at the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other youth organizations – to join the ECOSOC Youth Forum that will be held virtually on 7 and 8 April 2021. Upon registering, applicants will be contacted by the end of March 2021 for updates on the event. 

About the Youth Forum
The ECOSOC Youth Forum provides young people with a platform to connect and converse with Member States and other young leaders around the world to discuss possible solutions to the challenges affecting youth-wellbeing. The Forum will provide a unique space for young people to share their vision and actions on the implementation of the global goals identified in the 2030 agenda.

Consideration will also be given to the group of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) decided by Member States for in-depth discussions at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), specifically SDGs 1: No poverty, SDG 2: Zero hunger, SDG 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption, SDG 13: Climate action, SDG 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals.

The discussion in the Forum will be guided by the overall theme for the ECOSOC HLPF on sustainable development which is “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, that promotes the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: Building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery of sustainable development”.

The Forum is organized by the UN Department of Economic Affairs (UNDESA) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY), Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), and International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations (ICMYO) along with the assistance of the partners in the UN system.

Source: https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/content/ecosoc-youth-forum-2021

The 2030 Agenda and road safety
Last year, the United Nations declared the years 2021-2030 as the new Decade of Action for Road Safety. Under the decade of action, road traffic crashes are reported to be a major public health threat, claiming over 1.3 million lives every year and injuring 20 to 50 million more. Young people are the most affected by road traffic crashes with a large portion of victims are aged 15 to 29 years old.

With young people being the most affected, it makes sense that they should be involved meaningfully in all stages of the decision-making process in local and global road safety efforts through participation. The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety unites young people and maximizes their impact on road safety and sustainable mobility in their communities. The Coalition amplifies youth voices all over the world to support them in their work, projects, and initiatives.

Through the Coalition and the Forum, youth voices, ideas, and perspectives will be elevated in the international platform. Get the chance to raise awareness on road safety and other development issues by participating in the global movement.

Deadline to apply is 17th March 2021.

REGISTER FOR THE ECOSOC YOUTH FORUM 2021   JOIN THE COALITION

Road to Zero Coalition
Road to Zero Coalition is a nonprofit and nonpartisan research institute managed by NSC. It has identified three major initiatives to reduce roadway fatalities; double down on evidence-based road safety strategies, help advance life-saving technology in vehicles and infrastructure, and adapt the safe systems approach.

In a report that lays out the strategies to end roadway deaths in the United States by 2050, the Road to Zero Coalition emphasizes that young people are affected disproportionately as road crashes are the leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24.

The report does not just list young people as victims of road crashes but as at-risk drivers who may be affected by external factors such as weather and other road infrastructures. It also notes how the perception of young people started to change as different sectors started to discuss health and transport with youth, teaching them about land-use policies and urban design that affects the community.