Sign Up for the Live Launch Session!
To mark the launch of this momentous occasion, we invite you to join us for another special online live stream! It will feature some special moments, you will hear from the Youth Advisory Board who are the young leaders behind the coalition as well as some special guest appearances. Expect lots of confetti and fireworks as we launch this new phase in the global youth movement for road safety. Sign up here.

So what is the Youth Coalition for Road Safety anyway?
As told from the young leaders who are leading the Coalition: We are passionate young people from across the world taking action on safer mobility and championing meaningful youth participation in road safety and beyond. We operate from a set of principles that define and guide our work, globally and locally.

Road traffic crashes are the number one killer of young people aged 15-29. At the opening ceremony of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference in Sweden, Omnia El Omrani delivered a message to government Ministers and decision-makers around the world on behalf of the members of the World Youth Assembly and the thousands of young people from around the world who took part in youth consultations in the run-up to the conference.

“It’s time to take action. No more fake promises, no more false commitments. I have to ask you that you have to pick a lane. Will you work with us to save lives? Will you work with us to create a healthier world? Will you work with us and commit to a higher moral standard? Or, will you confess to your children, in 2030, that you did nothing to stop the road safety crisis?”

Omnia El Omrani at the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety

The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety recently interviewed Omnia to learn more about the impact of her speech, what has happened since, and how the Global Youth Coalition will build on the momentum gained by the World Youth Assembly in Stockholm.

How did you get involved in road safety?
I started out working in Egypt with the national branch of the International Federation of Medical Students, an organization that represented medical students worldwide, as their Public Health Officer. I had a lot of opportunities to do advocacy for road safety and health and the health implications of road safety and road related injuries and awareness. I started working with my organization on a global level as the liaison officer for public health issues, so I am the focal point for non-communicable diseases, road safety and climate change.

Through them I applied to be a part of the World Youth Assembly taskforce. This has been the beginning of the journey to understanding the global road safety and safe mobility road safety areas, but always bringing in my perspective of health; saving lives and promoting health as well as planetary health.

Working with the youth taskforce has been an incredible experience. It is a group of really diverse individuals from different countries working towards the World Youth Assembly, the day before the Global Ministerial Conference. We had weekly online meetings, discussing what we wanted the assembly to look like. Each of us had a different task to focus on.

At the World Youth Assembly, I facilitated a session on the intersection between road safety and SDG3, good health health and well-being. At the same time, I was co-chair of the World Youth Assembly, alongside Thiago Gruner. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the conference.

What was it like to stand up in front of all the Ministers and decision-makers at the opening ceremony of the Global Ministerial Conference?
It was a combination of feelings. At first, I was a bit nervous but the main thing that I felt was responsible because the speech that I was delivering was not just my stance, but the stance of the youth taskforce that has been working for the Assembly to make it happen and the thousands of youth that we took part in the youth consultations all over the world. Those consultations formulated the Global Youth Statement which was the outcome of the World Youth Assembly (WYA) attended by over 160 delegates. So, I really wanted to convey this message and make it strong.

We wanted the speech to show all of these Ministers, decision-makers, and policymakers in the room that we, as youth, know that road safety is the biggest killer in our generation and that young people are the biggest demographic – almost 60% of the world’s population – so road safety is a huge concern for us and for our future generations.

At the same time we wanted to show them that we have solutions, we have passion, ideas and innovation. We want them to work with us, to include us in their decisions and the policies that they are formulating. We wanted to create a space for us to claim our space because this is our futures; we are the generation that is going to be impacted.

What was the reaction to your speech?
The highlight of the reactions that I received, and that I really cherish, are that many ministers and decision makers came to me and they would ask me “How can we engage youth in our country? We really want them to be there with us, to advise us.” They were all talking about how youth can be empowered to work with them.

Ministers would come and check out the Global Youth Statement, which is our main advocacy document. We wanted to create the space for the youth who couldn’t be with us, and to make it easier for them to go to their governments and to their ministers who had been at the Ministerial Conference.

Another highlight was that I met my own Minister for Transport [of Egypt]. That was inspiring, to have him talk to me about the speech and the youth statement. The African Union Commissioner [for Infrastructure and Energy], Amani Abou-Zeid, is from Egypt. She also came to me and said it was a great speech and that she would like to work with us and with the youth in the African Union on road safety.

At the same time, it was interesting to receive a lot of feedback from the youth themselves. We were all wearing the same hoodies so that when we went to sessions, we were approached a lot by the decision-makers who wanted to talk about how to engage further and how to follow up on the discussions that were happening during the Ministerial Conference back in their home countries.

What did you tell decision-makers when they approached you?
When decision-makers approached me, first of all, I would always have the youth statement with me, and tell them that this was based on consultations that were done by youth in their own countries. I would uplink up Ministers with members of the Youth Taskforce in their country so to that they could follow up back to their own country. I would explain to them what we did at the WYA and the delegates’ demands and commitments.

There are many youth organizations, and youth-led initiatives that really need the support of government and to include them meaningfully at the decision-making table and listen to their inputs.

As youth, we do not just have demands and commitments, we are the link between civil society and government. We know what is happening in society and through the initiatives we do, we can take all these opinions, the things that we hear, and the needs back to their governments.

What has been the impact so far: before, during, and after COVID-19?
So far, COVID-19 has not stopped us from working.

Youth Coalition
We are currently working on the Youth Coalition, which is the outcome of the WYA. We want to find a way to sustain the momentum, the energy, the ideas, and innovation that was seen at the assembly and to take it further empower the youth beyond the assembly. The launch will be in July. We plan to empower youth-led organizations to engage with their governments, claim their space at the decision-making tables and voice their opinions as well as advise them and empower the initiatives that they are working on. Youth-led organizations will be able to become members of the coalition and we will aim to link them with organizations that can support their initiatives. We will also focus on key priority events for advocacy.

The main goal of the coalition is to follow up on the Global Youth Statement and see how the goals, objectives and indicators can be accomplished.

Government engagement
Last week, we participated in a webinar with government decision-makers in Namibia. We had a discussion about how youth can be empowered and how can they be involved more.

This is just one example of countries developing their own youth coalition council or involving youth in their government-led road safety coalitions or councils.

Webinars and panel discussions
The Youth Taskforce has also held the ‘#ClaimingOurSpace Live!’, talking about what they have been doing during COVID-19 and a panel discussion about the opportunity that COVID-19 is presenting to create a new and sustainable world.

Check out Omnia’s speech:

GLOBAL YOUTH STATEMENT 

2ND WORLD YOUTH ASSEMBLY

#CLAIMINGOURSPACE LIVE!

Read the original article at the Global Alliance Website

Foreward to the Annual Report 2019

Before many young people can start realizing their dreams, they are taken from the world because of road crashes. Every day more than a thousand of them die on the roads and with them their dreams for a life and future. Most of these deaths are preventable, and it saddens me to tell you that I am not able to bring you a different message on the eve of YOURS’ 10-year anniversary in 2020.

While the Decade of Action for Road Safety is ending I am frustrated that we as a road safety community did not manage to make more impact by stabilizing and more importantly reducing global road traffic fatalities.

We can all agree that progress has been made. Some countries and cities have demonstrated remarkable results in terms of lives saved and injuries reduced. But I hope to see accelerated action on the proven evidence-based strategies for road safety globally as youth continue to pay a big cost for our failing mobility systems. There is an urgent need for multidisciplinary collaboration and effective leadership across all sectors to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries. That is why the upcoming 3^rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety set for February 2020 is very interesting and important. I hope it will bring much needed energy, innovation and funding to our cause. It is also my wish that governments will start listening to and engaging with youth.

Globally, we need to meaningfully involve youth as key stakeholders in this crisis. And if decision-makers are not coming to the youth, we will bring the youth to them. The day before the Ministerial Conference, YOURS and its partners will organize the 2^nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety. This is will be a momentous occasion for the global youth movement for road safety.

We have already consulted with youth leaders from around the globe in the lead up to the Assembly. Together they have given us a deeper insight into the reality youth face on the world’s roads every day. They have described how traffic injuries affect their lives and how it relates to the Sustainable Development Goals. These diverse youth voices will be translated into a Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and adopted during the Youth Assembly. We foresee that this statement will become a major tool for youth to advocate for safe mobility and claim a seat at the decision-making table.

While humanity is facing the coronavirus pandemic, we see the world coming together. Countries are working side-by-side and ramping up efforts to tackle this outbreak. And although it is uncertain how the world will look in the coming year, this might be the time to reset and reshape our future on how we travel for the better.

Floor Lieshout
Executive Director

Room 9 Media was started in 2011 by John and Denise Billington. They have years of experience in safer and sustainable travel, communications and education.  They have been developing new and exciting resources ever since.

Right from the start, their objectives have been simple: to tackle the issues children and families face on the roads. So whether it’s pedestrian safety, parking problems or sustainable travel, they seek to deliver a memorable message that’s both relevant and engaging.

Room 9 Media recently started a new podcast amidst the pandemic, to hear from voices across sustainable transport and road safety. In episode 3, they spoke with our Head of Communications, Mr Manpreet Darroch about his road safety journey and the work of YOURS and in episode 5 they spoke with Jacob Smith.

On Twitter, Room 9 Media said, “Take a listen to our inspiring podcast with Jacob Smith from YOURS about how a road traffic crash affected his life and how he’s become an advocate for safer roads…“.

Listen to the podcast here:

Alliance Live Sessions

Alliance Live Sessions are expert-led panel discussions exploring issues outside but connected to road safety. Each session will look at a particular theme, through the lens of COVID-19 and the lessons that we can take from the current pandemic, plus how road safety NGOs can work with other activists from different SDGs to bring their causes together with a unified voice.

23 June 2020 3pm CEST/9am EDT Road traffic injuries have been the leading killer of young people worldwide for over a decade and are often tokenized without meaningful engagement. How can NGOs involve and empower youth in building programs that also improve the lives of youth?

We have teamed up with the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund of Namibia (MVA) to participate in a Youth Road Safety Webinar. Road traffic injuries are globally the leading causes of death of young people. This is unacceptable and avoidable. Youth themselves play an important role in preventing these tragedies, for example by being role models, talking with their peers, and advocating for improved road safety wherever they are. According to the MVA Fund Annual Crash and Claims Report 2019, about half (46%) of the number of persons injured were the youth (16-35 years) 46% and another 10% of those injured were children of 15 years and younger. Young person’s records 45% of those killed in road crashes, and another 15% were children 15 years and younger of those who died.

The first ever World Youth Assembly for Road Safety was held during the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week in 2007, providing a unique opportunity for youth from around the world to collaborate on global road safety issues. Together, more than 200 young delegates from over 100 countries discussed ways in which national success stories can be disseminated, and explored different methods of implementing the Youth Declaration for Road Safety. At the Assembly, these young delegates were inspired, empowered, and encouraged to serve as ambassadors at home and abroad by advocating road safety in their country, region, and the global community at large.

Namibia attended the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden from 19-20 February 2020. Presentations were done by the World Youth Assembly on Road Safety highlighting the scourge of unnecessary deaths of young people in developing countries and demanded to be part of the decision making towards creating more sustainable, accessible and safe transport systems. Subsequently, it was resolved to consider a Youth Road Safety Summit – the first of its kind to be hosted by MVA Fund. The timeline is set to be around June 16, 2020 which also marks some international youthful events such as Day of the African Child (DAC).

The webinar will be live on MVA  Facebook on Tuesday 16th June: 2-4pm (CAT) – GMT+2

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