The Instituto Nacional de Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre – Int or National Institute of Traffic and Land Transportation – International joined Road Safety Week in the Dominican Republic by hosting a conversation on road safety, specifically on Las Carreras Ilegales en Motocicletas or Illegal Racing on Motorcycles. 

The intervention was addressed mostly to young men who are or have been involved in motorcycle races which put road users’ lives at risk. “It’s necessary to raise awareness among them and make them part of the change in road safety and mobility areas.”

The online conversation was held last week, 17 November, where road safety leaders came together for Semana de la Seguridad Vial. Representatives from the USAID Project, Young Alert, National School of Education, and YOURS – Youth for Road Safety.

The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety was represented by Youth Advisory Board Member, Esteban Paredes.

During his discussion, Esteban talked about the efforts of YOURS to empower youth and involving them in meaningful participation and gave particular attention to the work YOURS has been doing with youth in South America.

Esteban also raised the necessity of a paradigm shift, pointing out that a new perspective that involves youth will be more effective. 

Esteban talked about the 2^nd World Youth Assembly and how youth intervention was key in creating the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. He emphasized how the Coalition is uniting young people from all over the world so that they are supported in their efforts in road safety and sustainable mobility. 

He also mentioned programs in Latin America, such as Fundacion Cavat and Roliev, that can help young people get involved with road safety efforts. 

If you want to join the road safety movement, become a member of the Coalition, or check out the different road safety programs in your area! 

JOIN THE COALITION 

The World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) was adopted by the United Nations through Resolution 60/5, otherwise known as Improving Global Road Safety. The WDoR commemorates the victims and the families affected by road crashes. It draws attention to the scale of the emotional and economic devastation caused by road crashes, recognizes the suffering of road crash victims and their families, and appreciates the support and rescue of health services all over the world. 

WDoR is set every third Sunday of November.  

This year, we have teamed up with the World Health Organization (WHO) for a special online livestream for the Global Commemoration of the WDoR this Friday, 13 November, at 2 PM CET. The theme for this year’s WDoR is Remember. Support. Act. It is a call to remember those who have been affected by road crashes and to act so that others do not suffer the same way the victims and their families have. WDoR is set every third Sunday of November.

The livestream will feature road safety testimonies from road safety activists all over the world. Global road safety leaders will also be presenting statements on road crashes and road safety efforts being done to achieve SDG Target 3.6. 

The speakers for the session include Michael Bloomberg – the WHO Global Ambassador for the Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – WHO Director-General, Andrew Holnes  – Prime Minister of Jamaica, Zoleka Mandela – Global Ambassador of Child Health Initiative, and Jean Todt – UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety. 

“Year after year, 1.3 million people die on the world’s roads and 50 million more are injured. Join us for World Day of Remembrance on 13 November to Remember. Support. Act,” – Dr. Etienne Krug. 

Catch these road safety activists and leaders in our session by registering today! Remember. Support. Act.

REGISTER TO THE LIVE STREAM HERE 

The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety has launched its second round of Global Youth Consultations. With the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety, young people have the tool to lead the road safety revolution and help them take action for safe and sustainable mobility everywhere. The consultations will help young people implement the Global Youth Statement by localizing the challenges, demands, and commitments of young people all over the world.

The youth consultations
The first round of youth consultations was held late in 2018 before the 2^nd World Youth Assembly. It collected more than 1,500 youth voices from 54 countries and identified key issues young people were experiencing when it came to road safety in their respective regions.

The first youth consultations culminated into the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety – a document that lists the demands and commitments of youth from all over the world, focusing on issues around safe roads and sustainable mobility.

The second round of consultations is about letting youth know that their voices have been heard and that it is time to start leading the change for a safer world for young people. With the Global Youth Statement, youth can take real action for safe and sustainable mobility everywhere.

The second round of consultations has the following goal; 

1. Follow-up with all young people who were initially consulted and brief them about how their voices contributed to the creation of the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety
2. Involve new youth leaders in the process of expressing views, opinions, and experiences about the reality young people face that relate to safe roads and sustainable mobility 
3. Support youth in designing and implementing local plans reflecting on issues on the ground by localizing the Global Youth Statement 
4. Track the progress of different actions and plans so that implementations of the Global Youth Statement can be reported to key stakeholders 

Why are the consultations important?
The Global Youth Statement for Road Safety was released during the 2^nd WYA for Road Safety, a pre-event for the Global Ministerial Conference for Road Safety. World leaders have begun prioritizing road safety on a global scale.

Earlier this year, the United Nations released a resolution declaring the new Decade of Action because the first decade was not able to meet Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.6 – halving the number of road-related deaths and injuries by the year 2020. The new decade extends the deadline to 2030.

Road crashes kill around 1.35 million people worldwide and injure 20 million to 50 million more. 90% of road crashes occur in low and middle-income countries where young people are the most affected.

Learn more about the youth consultations by going to the Coalition website! 

VISIT COALITION WEBSITE 

The Commonwealth Action Series featured a sub-session on fighting the biggest killer of young people in the Commonwealth – road crashes – as part of its fourth episode on youth development: inclusive, equitable, and accessible opportunities. The session featured speakers from the road safety sector who talked about the facts surrounding road safety in Commonwealth.  Members of the Coalition led a youth panel to talk about road safety and sustainable mobility in their respective countries. 

Road crashes as a public health threat
The speakers during the session – Professor Agnes Binagwaho, Ph.D., M.D., Vice-Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity; Jessica Truong, the Vice President of Programs and Asia Pacific Region of Toward Zero Foundation; and Raquel Barrios, Project Manager of YOURS – Youth for Road Safety – talked about road safety as an urgent public health issue in the Commonwealth.

Agnes kicked off the session and discussed how road safety is an issue in equity, economy, sustainability, and accessibility. In her discussion, she emphasized that the burden of road crashes is huge, not only for the Countries in the Commonwealth but for the whole world.

After she emphasized how young people are the most affected when it comes to road crashes, Agnes raised the concern of how youth are less able to bear the costs associated with road-related injuries and disabilities.

In her discussion, Agnes pointed out how the GDP of the countries could reach a 3.6% increase by reducing road traffic deaths by 10%. Long term economic growth would also mean youth development through employment opportunities.

Jessica presented facts and figures that explain why road trauma is an important public health concern. In the Commonwealth, half a million people are killed because of road crashes every year. Jessica identified road crashes as “one of the biggest man-made humanitarian crises that we must address”.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has identified road safety as a “priority action area”, strengthened by the new UN declaration of the new Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Youth leading the charge for safer roads and sustainable mobility
Raquel talked about how necessary young people are in the road safety movement. She introduced the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, an organization that unites youth from all over the world to lead the movement toward safer roads and sustainable mobility.

“The youth coalition is providing resources, capacity development, and partnerships to young leaders around the world to promote the implementation of evidence-based local actions and innovative strategies for global advocacy that will contribute to the achievement of the global youth statement for road safety,” – Raquel Barrios.

The Commonwealth also featured a youth panel where members of the Coalition participated. The panel had Simon Patrick Obi from Nigeria as moderator and had Olivia Nalwadda from Uganda, Ami Nkumbuye from Rwanda, Grace Willems from Australia, and Alex Ayub from Kenya as panelists.

The panelists talked about the road safety situation in their respective countries. Olivia talked about how dangerous the streets of Uganda are, not only for young people but also for elders who want to enjoy activities like going out for an evening stroll.

Grace discussed how addressing road safety does not just solve issues surrounding mobility, it also helps create more sustainable cities that contribute to a better standard of living for people in the Commonwealth. “I think that finding solutions to road safety goes hand-in-hand with making progress against many other UN SDGs.”

Ami gave the audience a glimpse of how Rwanda is addressing road safety through advocacy. He talked about key interventions that have to do with promoting and raising awareness when it came to road crash statistics in their community. The promotion advocacy came in three ways; teaching sessions, mass campaigns, and conferences. Ami also raised the importance of connecting with governments and NGOs to tackle road safety so that the medical services are not overwhelmed.

Finally, Alex talked about how the Global Youth Coalition, with the help of the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety, is addressing road crashes locally and globally. He discussed how the Coalition is reaching out to young people and other authorities to implement the youth statement and combat the road crash menace.  

READ ABOUT THE GLOBAL YOUTH STATEMENT 

The World Bank’s Transport Global Practice has set a new road safety requirement, which will be applied to billions of dollars of World Bank loans and grants. The requirement is expected to prevent thousands of traffic deaths each year and tens of thousands of serious road injuries. The new policy was backed by members of the Three Star Coalition, which includes YOURS – Youth for Road Safety.

Upgraded roads financed by the World Bank are designed to carry more traffic at faster speeds with corresponding economic benefits. When roads are upgraded without rigorous safety measures, deaths and serious injuries rise as a result of the faster speeds and increased traffic volume.

The significance of the World Bank Transport Practice’s new requirement is that roads to be financed must now include safety measures such that the new road will have no more forecast fatalities than the original road and will often have fewer fatalities as additional road safety opportunities are defined, even though there are more traffic and faster speeds. 

In cases where it is claimed that this standard cannot be reached, there must be a review by the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Lead. If they agree that the standard cannot be reached, they would normally work with the project team to ensure that at least 7% of the project budget is devoted to safety measures that attain the best possible results. 

The Three Star Coalition Mission
Coordinated by the Fund for Global Health, the Three Star Coalition aims to influence policy and engineering practice in multilateral development banks (MDBs), development agencies, and national highway authorities to promote safer road infrastructure design.

Unsafe roads are a major factor that contributes to the number of road-related deaths and injuries. The Three Star Coalition advocates for the design and construction of safer roads in the developing world. The organization and its members advocate for roads in developing countries to be built to a minimum three-star safety standard for all road users.

To assess roads, the World Bank will use the Road Safety Screening and Appraisal Tool (RSSAT) tool which calculates how the new road compares to the old road in terms of the number of traffic deaths. The new policy is expected to prevent thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries at an annual rate.

YOURS is a Three Star Coalition Member
“YOURS is a proud member of the 3-Star Coalition. I would like to congratulate the World Bank for including road safety requirements within their infrastructure loans and grants. In addition, I would like to thank Keith Johnson for leading this Coalition and representing the members while negotiating with the World Bank, well done!” – YOURS Executive Director, Floor Lieshout. 

To continuously raise awareness on the importance of road infrastructure and its role in maintaining road safety, members of the Three Star Coalition will continue to share updates and developments in the organization that relate to road infrastructures and road safety. 

READ THE THREE STAR COALITION PRESS RELEASE