We are delivering a youth workshop in Iceland this month

We are delivering a youth workshop in Iceland this month

In conjunction with the Accident Prevention Conference 2019 (Slysavarnir 2019), on Sunday, October 13, a one-day workshop will be held for youth associations focusing on accident prevention in traffic and how the youth of Landsbjörg and other adolescents can be involved in thinking about and handling traffic safety issues.

Traffic Crashes are the leading cause of deaths of young people aged 15-29 worldwide and it is important that young people are self-aware and participate in responding to the road safety crisis facing youth as well as finding solutions. This is the theme of the workshop, which is managed by Manpreet Darroch, our Head of Communications and Lead Facilitator at YOURS – Youth for road safety. The workshop will be conducted in the signature YOURS style and have the following learning objectives:

By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the road safety crisis facing young people globally and in their country.
  2. Identify a key risk factor in road safety; drink and drug driving and demonstrate new knowledge on the issue.
  3. Understand peer education for road safety and some of the activities you can start in the Youth Units at Landsbjörg.


“YOURS has run workshops around the world, run campaigns, and has tremendous experience leading youth work in traffic safety”Jónas Guðmundsson, Project Manager for Accident Prevention at Landsbjörg.

Around twenty young people people will be attending the workshop this time. Many of the youth departments at Landsbjörg will send their representatives; the goal of the accident prevention company Landsbjörg is that this is the beginning of a nationwide youth safety project.

The workshop will take place in Gróubúð, the premises of Ársæl on Grandi. 9am and lasts until 5pm.

READ MORE ABOUT SLYSAVARNIR 2019

WORKSHOPS AT YOURS

Brian’s Column: Why do our leaders rarely take public road transport?

Brian’s Column: Why do our leaders rarely take public road transport?

Brian is back with his  regular columns of road safety through the eyes of a young person in Africa. He asks the question, Why do our leaders rarely take public road transport? Hear his take on all things African Road Safety.

“Dude!’’ he hurled, “This is the dumbest question I have ever heard you ask”. That was the response my friend Charles (Full names: Charles aka The Top Shooter) gave on our way to watch Fast and Furious Hobbs and Shaw. The story of how he earned this strange name shall be told another day but I can guarantee one thing and one thing only; nothing illegal is involved. We’re both ardent fans and have previously been diagnosed with a new viral infection called Fasta and Furiousa. 

We booked a 7:15pm show and drove to the Cinema. We’d barely done 4km than an ant-count of vehicles appeared on our side mirrors flashing those scary lights you have seen in a horror movie. Traffic was, like One Direction would say “paralysed’’. We couldn’t move any longer. We became certain as day and night that we were never catching our movie. May be we should have left our car behind as well and jogged, I wondered.

Then, a smartly dressed policeman, beckoned us to drive, releasing traffic at once even when the traffic light signalled red. This isn’t new phenomenon by the way. There is hooting from everything that moves. The driver behind us is screaming ontop of his lungs, the motorcyclists are at a hair’s breadth off my side mirror, pedestrians are struggling to cross to the other side of the road, in the process rubbing their whatever-they-are-carrying against my car, a hawker is trying to sell me a chicken. The sound of break neck speed engine pistons is everywhere, but hallelujah! It’s a miracle! Somehow, we’re driving, and no one has been run over. After about 200m, we again find ourselves cursing between our teeth, as the traffic took its toll. This is a daily routine for most people. Charles, bless him, he hasn’t quite managed the art and science of holding his tongue.

“Ono Sitane abadde ani?’’ (loosely translated, Who the hell was that?), he managed to ask one of the already resigned drivers. The driver responded without looking at him“Bakulembezze bbo”’ (Literally, your political leaders). A moment of dead-silence passed between myself and Charles. That’s when I broke it with THAT infamous question. It wasn’t a smart question but I had asked anyway.

But of course, public transport in most of our countries is not prioritised. As a matter of concern, the society is unforgiving to leaders and managers who don’t drive. They’re referred to as broke, poor, mean <delete where applicable>. Public transport is probably the most unreliable option you would consider. Quite simply, people take public transport because they can’t afford private means.

A Ugandan Traffic Jam in Kampala

The chronic delays, hygiene, recklessness, poor conditions of the vehicle, risk of speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs:-and yes, these can happen in private cars, but atleast, there is a higher level of control to monitor what your driver is doing. Our leaders don’t experience these challenges, so they assume (wrongly) that they don’t exist. While they are croozing in V8s, they never really feel the potholes and poorly maintained roads. They never get asked to show their driving licenses and forced to pay some ‘lunch’ even when you got everything in place. They seem to be immune to the challenge of giving first aid to an injured person without a first aid kit in a car. And yes of course, they don’t feel the excruciating pain of spending more time in a traffic jam than we spend at work. (Sometimes).

Some of the benefits of ‘effective and sustainable public transport’.

I read an article years ago, about why our leaders are busy and so don’t have time to waste on the road. Mind you, most of these leaders are not protected by the Country Traffic and Road Safety Law to grant them right of way. So, we aint busy? One can argue, the real reason they don’t take public transport is because there is no public transport in the first place. What shall happen if we get the same number of cars as the population in this city? No wait, we shall expand the roads. This is already happening, but it doesn’t solve congestion in most cities. If anything, it encourages more traffic. Oh, there is another idea, government makes cars more expensive. Yep, that works, but then, how shall people do businesses? Increasingly, smarter countries are investing in public transport to curb down on carbon emissions, encourage non-motorised transport, providing jobs for especially the young people and getting their leaders to use public transport! Heck, why is this so freaking hard to do here. Did we make it to the movie on time? Ask me on Twitter, I’ll let you know.

FOLLOW BRIAN ON TWITTER

Website for the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety is now live!

Website for the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety is now live!

We have been working on a brand new event website for the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety. his website is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about the Assembly.

Young leaders from across the world will gather to take action on their biggest public health threat of their time; road traffic crashes.  Together, we will be #ClaimingOurSpace for safer mobility and at the decision-making table!

The Assembly will feature a full-day of programming that brings together young advocates, campaigners, innovators and change-makers who are committed to combating road traffic injuries. The Assembly will explore road safety and crosscutting solutions to challenge the number one cause of death for youth (aged 15-29). It will be action oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with representation of young leaders from all over the world.

The 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety will take place in Stockholm on the 18th of February 2020, as an official pre-event of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety.

Want to attend the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety? We’d love to see you in Sweden! There are a number of events taking place before, during and after the Assembly.

We have split these activities into the following phases:

  1. Pre-Assembly (Before 18th Feb 2020)

  2. During the Assembly (18th Feb 2020)

  3. After the Assembly (After 18th Feb 2020)

We are inviting young people from all across the world, from all walks of life and all sorts of different backgrounds to attend!

VISIT THE WYA WEBSITE

TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM

Young people around the world will unite for road safety

Young people around the world will unite for road safety

The third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety will be held in Stockholm on February 19 and 20, 2020, attended by delegations from all over the world. It has two objectives: to review U.N.-coordinated measures put in place over the last ten years and to set new targets for the coming decade that, among other things, address sustainable development issues. Total, renowned for its expertise as a major player in road safety, and for its commitment to this cause through the Total Foundation corporate citizenship program, has been invited to take part in the conference as a private-sector representative.

A number of official events leading up to the conference will allow participants to make their contribution to the 2030 objectives. For example, the second World Youth Assembly for Road Safety organized by NGO YOURS (Youth for Road Safety) will take place on February 18, 2020. In keeping with its determination to make young people the focus of its commitment, Total Foundation is supporting this initiative as it gives 15-29 year olds the opportunity to express their views. Ahead of the assembly, working groups on every continent will establish their priorities and proposed action plans.

Some 200 young people will take part in the event, where they will draft an official statement to be provided to the ministers in attendance. They will also present tangible projects to promote road safety, the ten best of which will receive financial support.

Young people are a unique driver of change. By combining our forces, we will be able to find innovative solutions to make society a more inclusive place,” said Manoelle Lepoutre, Senior Vice President, Civil Society Engagement at Total and Managing Director of Fondation Total.

“It is a real pleasure to welcome Total Foundation as a Main Partner to the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety. We share the same vision that young people are the change-makers and the innovators for a safer world of tomorrow. We are thrilled to work together on this and looking forward to a successful Assembly!”, said Floor Lieshout, Executive Director at YOURS.

 
Visit www.wyaroadsafety.org for more details about the Assembly.
Save the Date: The 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety is happening!

Save the Date: The 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety is happening!

We are super excited to share that in six months time, the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety will be taking place in Stockholm, Sweden.

The event is an official pre-event to the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety that takes place 19-20th February 2020.

The Youth Assembly will bring together young leaders from all across the world to take action for road safety, crosscutting issues and call on decision-makers to listen to youth.

At this stage, we ask you to Save the Date:

We will be launching an event website and more details on how to get involved shortly!

We are excited to be part of a powerful moment for young people to have their voices heard on road safety and realizing the Global Goals. We will be #ClaimingOurSpace for safe mobility and at the decision-making table.

More details coming soon…

The Global Youth Taskforce

Get involved with the #CommitToAct campaign and take the People’s Survey!

Get involved with the #CommitToAct campaign and take the People’s Survey!

Commitment is not enough — road safety needs action. Following the #SpeakUp campaign and in the run up to the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety 2020, the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety has launched #CommitToAct.

#CommitToAct supports NGOs in pushing their local and national governments to make clear, meaningful, and specific commitments for road safety actions at policy, implementation, and enforcement levels, and then to track and highlight these commitments. These commitments can be big or small, but what matters is that they are acted on.

#CommitToAct illustrates the following:

Commit to road safety actions
Act on the commitment

The campaign focuses on several key elements which can be found here. At the moment, we encourage our youth network to take part in the ‘People’s Survey’ to have your voices heard on how road traffic crashes and injuries affect you!

People’s Survey:
The survey will collect the experiences and impact of road crashes as seen from the eyes of citizens around the world, to show decision makers why they must #CommitToAct. Take the survey and encourage your friends, family, and everyone you know to complete it too.

Road traffic injuries are not just statistics, they are real lives and real people. Many of us have been affected by road traffic crashes or know people whose lives and relationships have been torn apart by the tragedy that claims 1.3 million lives every year. 

Complete the People’s Survey and share it with your friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors. Let’s make our voices heard and show our leaders the impact that road traffic crashes are having on our fellow citizens. #CommitToAct.
Your voice can change the world!

You can currently access the survey in three languages, with others to be added.

TAKE THE PEOPLE’S SURVEY