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WE ARE HIRING: YOURS Projects & Partnerships Director

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

We are looking for a Projects & Partnerships Director. They will have the overall responsibility to lead the projects’ portfolio and the fundraising cycle at YOURS. This person will work closely with the Executive Director, and together, they will ensure the projects are in line with the YOURS strategic plan, follow the highest standards in terms of accountability, and are well-resourced.

YOURS plays a vital role in preventing road traffic injuries among young people. It is a unique organization that unites and supports youth leaders worldwide to demand and deliver road safety. YOURS is recognized as a leader in assisting government
investment in youth leadership in the road safety field. We add value to the broader development agenda by contributing to a healthier planet, liveable cities, gender equality, safe school zones, and equal access to safe and sustainable mobility.

The Projects and Partnerships Director will be responsible for managing and overseeing the entire cycle of the organization’s projects portfolio and the design and implementation of the fundraising funnel. In collaboration with the YOURS team, the Projects & Partnerships Director will ensure the projects are in line with the YOURS strategic plan, the mission and vision, and its accountability and resourcing.

On the one hand, the P&P Director will ensure the correct creation and implementation of the organization’s projects, following YOURS strategic focus areas: (1)Advocacy – Influencing decision-makers on the need for road safety with youth leadership (2)
Capacity Development – Informing and skilling leaders of today and tomorrow (3) Synergy – Energising a Youth Movement. This person assumes a leadership role of monitoring and supervising the projects’ dashboards and overview, with the mission of ensuring a strategic direction and accountability of YOURS activities worldwide.

Some of their key roles and responsibilities include;

Oversee the strategic direction and health of all projects at the organization, including completion, budget controls, projects’ workload, and any major constraints that the project may encounter;
Design, implement, and monitor the YOURS fundraising strategy, ensuring diverse and sustainable sources of income to enhance YOURS’ operations;
Set the global standards for projects by continuing with the implementation of user-friendly planning, controlling and reporting templates that are aligned with donors’ and organizational needs;
Support the expansion of YOURS’ network and partnerships by researching & establishing first contact and/or resuming relationships with private companies, private foundations, non-governmental organizations and multilateral institutions.

Access the full terms of reference and submit your CV and motivation letter to Raquel Barrios: raquel@youthforroadsafety.org by September 22, at 5:00 pm CET.

“Empowering Global Youth Leaders: Madrid Retreat Unites Visionaries to Build Skills and Combat the Global Road Safety Crisis”

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

August 29th, 2023. Madrid. YOURS – Youth for Road Safety and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety will host the first Youth Leadership Retreat on Road Safety from 29th August – 1st September in Madrid, Spain, to build new skills in tackling the biggest killer of young people globally; road traffic crashes. The Retreat is supported by Spain’s Fundación MAPFRE, who will host the training at their Madrid headquarters, and counts on the financial support of YOURS long-lasting partners, TotalEnergies Foundation and MICHELIN Corporate Foundation.

23 exceptional young leaders from 18 countries representing all sectors of society have been selected to participate in the retreat to build on their outstanding leadership qualities and level of local community influence. This 4-day intensive training experience aims to maximize participants’ leadership and practical advocacy skills to demand and deliver road safety and sustainable mobility globally and locally.

The Global Youth Coalition, which consists of over 1700 young leaders from around the world, was set up in 2020 by YOURS to unify a global youth movement for road safety. It takes a unique approach to place young leaders at the centre of organizational decision-making via various youth leadership structures who will undergo a specially-curated learning curriculum using the multi-award-winning YOURS Capacity Development approach.

Executive Director of YOURS, Raquel Barrios, said. “We are excited to bring together 23 talented young leaders dedicated to changing the road safety reality they have inherited and that is affecting their lives. At YOURS, we assert that meaningful youth participation is essential if we want to address the global road safety crisis and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); therefore, we are investing in young leaders, so they can continue acquiring new skills, expanding their networks, and creating stronger connections that will enable them to lead with renewed vigour and passion.”

The retreat not only aims to be a transformative experience for the participants but will also be a key contribution to their understanding, dedication, and passion for creating safer roads and sustainable communities globally. The legacy of this retreat will be seen through the initiatives, projects, and innovations that these young leaders will lead long after the retreat is over.

“We are excited to witness the transformational impact that this retreat will have on the lives of these young leaders and the world at large. It is an honor to welcome such an important initiative in our country and our organisation. At Fundación Mapfre, we promote change through education, particularly targeting children and young individuals. Safe Mobility requires an active participation of young leaders in order to reverse current negative trends, achieve a less vulnerable, safer, and more sustainable world,” said Jesus Monclus Gonzalez, Prevention and Road Safety Director at Mapfre Foundation.

YOURS’ mission to amplify the collective voice of young people to lead and deliver road safety and meaningful participation is supported by esteemed stakeholders such as TotalEnergies Foundation, Michelin Corporate Foundation, the World Health Organisation, MAPFRE Foundation, and other notable global and local organisations. Together, they are creating a future where youth voices are at the forefront of shaping the narrative of our communities.

“There is no more deadly threat to young people than a road traffic crash; as such, it is only fitting that young people are at the heart of rethinking mobility and creating safe and sustainable mobility, ” notes Etienne Krug, WHO Director of the Department of Social Determinants of Health. “This first Youth Leadership Retreat on Road Safety will be an excellent occasion for youth leaders from 18 countries to enhance skills, build networks and chart ways to contribute that fully engage them in all aspects of the decision-making process.”

For more information about the Retreat and how to join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, visit claimingourspace.org

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NOTES FOR EDITORS:

About the Participants
Young leaders from 18 countries will be represented at the Retreat, including Argentina, Cameroon, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Spain, Tajikistan, Uganda, the United States, and Zimbabwe. All young leaders are active community leaders leading road safety actions, interventions and advocacy. Most have significant experience in presenting road safety in national and international arenas.

Context on road safety
Annually, road crashes claim the lives of 1.35 million across the globe, making it the biggest killer of young people aged 15 to 29, above HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, or homicide. The Global Goals have two targets closely related to road safety:

Target 3.6 – To halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030
Target 11.2 – By 2030, 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.

Youth For Road Safety-YOURS
YOURS is a global youth organisation that facilitates and supports young people to demand and deliver road safety and sustainable mobility. It envisions a world where not a single person dies or gets seriously injured due to a road traffic crash. YOURS is working to advocate for safe and sustainable mobility systems that are accessible and affordable for everyone in all parts of the world, and that these mobility systems have been co-created with and by young people in a meaningful way at all levels and stages of decision making. In 2010, YOURS became an official member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC), the body for road safety issues through the UN system. In 2020, YOURS was granted special consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council, allowing it to actively engage with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies. As a special consultant, YOURS is able to push the road safety movement forward and engage formally in the ECOSOC Youth Forum. More info: https://www.youthforroadsafety.org

Global Youth Coalition For Road Safety
The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, initiated by YOURS in 2020, has been bringing together young leaders and organizations from around the world to promote safer roads and act as role models, educators, mobilizers, and advocates. More than 1700 young people from 100+ countries are working together to raise their voices to be seen and heard as assets in sustainable mobility policies.

More info: www.claimingourspace.org

The YOURS Academy
Leverages YOURS’ multi-award-winning training methodology and extensive experience in capacity development to prepare the next generation of young leaders with the necessary skills and expertise to both advocate for and implement road safety measures and systems. More info: www.yoursacademy.org

Fundación MAPFRE
Fundación MAPFRE is dedicated to improving people’s quality of life through various programs. Their activities are based on five key areas – Social Action, Culture, Health Promotion, Injury Prevention and Road Safety, Insurance and Social Protection. https://www.fundacionmapfre.org

For media inquiries:
Kenneth Mulinde
Senior Communications Manager
YOURS – Youth for Road Safety
Email: Kenneth@youthforroadsafety.org
Mobile: +256708313219

Our Annual Report for 2022 is LIVE!

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

We are happy and proud to share the YOURS Annual Report 2022! Look back on the highlights of youth-led action on road safety, sustainable mobility, and meaningful youth participation. Youth voices were at the forefront of different high-level events that called on decision-makers and policymakers to meaningfully engage youth to address the road safety crisis. Read more about our work in this report.

FOREWORD TO THE YOURS ANNUAL REPORT 2022
Another year full of action has passed, fighting the number one killer of young people: road traffic injuries. Young people have told us their needs and demands loud and clear. We listened carefully. Enough is enough. They do not want to live in a world with dirty, unsafe, and unsustainable mobility systems. They are sick and tired of risking their lives for an education.

We have seen that change is not progressing fast enough despite many promises made by governments and their leaders. Let me remind you that the target within the SDGs is to halve road traffic deaths by 2030.

Radical change is needed – nothing less. Investment and prioritizing in a clean and safe mobility system for people, co-designed with youth, will bring many benefits: saving young lives, combating poverty, reducing pressure on healthcare systems, improving air quality amongst so much more. You can learn more about this in our published policy papers and the YOURS Academy.

2022 was a year full of many global tensions. We witnessed the end of the global pandemic travel restrictions and saw the start of the war in Ukraine. It jeopardized the UN High-Level Meeting on Road Safety and the development of a strong UN Resolution. In the end, a Resolution was adopted and YOURS was at the UN in New York, delivering a powerful message with and for young people.

For a full week, we had an art exhibition at the UN Headquarters, delivering a strong call-to-action for meaningful youth engagement in road safety from 6 artists worldwide. Their message was derived from thousands of young people’s voices and their power poses. We also produced a side event in NY that helped us launch a new product: A toolkit for policymakers on meaningful youth engagement in road safety. A landmark event that the entire team worked so hard to accomplish.

In 2022 we also saw the launch of our very own YOURS Academy. We are so proud to have started the task of placing our award-winning onsite trainings in an online environment. While we have seen a rapid expansion of our Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety towards 1000+ members in 100+ countries, we wanted to cater to their unique learning needs. The YOURS Academy is a great starting point for the next generation to be engaged in a high-quality, self-paced online classroom. With 2 modules live and more to come, it is the place to learn in a fun way about the road safety crisis and how to take action.

While YOURS is growing, making an impact is what we are about. Growing our income, and delivering ambitious projects go hand-in-hand with professionalizing our organization. We have found the right pace and professionals to help us with this. I am proud to say that I am convinced the future is bright. With a set of powerful allies, great partners, and donors, we will never give up and keep claiming our space! In the streets and at the decision-making table.

Floor Lieshout
Executive Director

annual report 2022

YOURS Contributes to ‘The Lancet’ Academic Journal

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

2023 July – Earlier this month, the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health – a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal – published a paper titled “Unintentional Injuries in Adolescents: A Neglected Issue in Global Health” by Amy E Peden, Ali Işın, Rumanusina Maua, Soumyadeep Bhaumik, and YOURS Advocacy Director Stefania Minniti. The publication covers areas of adolescent health that include but are not limited to, mental health, suicide, and road traffic injuries.

Unintentional Injuries
The journal discusses the struggle of leveraging public attention and political will to address the preventable loss of lives among children and adolescents caused by health issues such as transport and mobility injuries, drowning, falls, suicide, assault, and more.

According to the paper, over 360,000 young people and adolescents died from unintentional injuries in 2019 alone. An additional 31.1 million suffer from disability caused by the injuries.

The paper looks to contribute to a paradigm shift in the perception of adolescent health and well-being. Through different resources, the urgent health issues will not just include mental health, reproductive health, and substance abuse but also road traffic crashes, drowns, falls, burns, scalds, and poisoning.

The Lancet
According to its website, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health is an “independent journal with an international perspective and a strong clinical focus.” It presents the most influential and innovative practice-changing original research as well as reviews and opinion pieces to promote the health of children and adolescents.

“The Lancet Group cares that your work is highly visible to a global network of researchers, clinicians, industry professionals, policymakers, media outlets, patients, and the wider public, and we work with you and your affiliated institutions to maximize the impact of your research on the world.”

Its current issue (Volume 7, Issue 7) is currently available on its website.

ACCESS OUR PAPER ON UNINTENTIONAL INJURIES

YOURS Joins Global Meeting of the Network of Heads of National Road Safety Agencies

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

Stockholm, Sweden – Last 28 June, YOURS – Youth for Road Safety Executive Director Raquel Barrios joined the Global Meeting of the Network of Heads of National Road Safety Agencies to discuss the importance and necessity of engaging, involving, and supporting young people in the design and implementation of road safety policies worldwide.

Calling all world leaders
Raquel joined UN Special Envoy for Road Safety Jean Todt, Director of the Social Determinants of Health from the World Health Organization Dr. Etienne Krug, and Chair of the International Road Victims’ Partnership (IRVP) Road Victims NGOs Donna Price in the Meeting’s opening speech.

During her intervention, Raquel talked about the work YOURS is doing to support and empower youth in their work to address road safety issues in their communities. She elaborated on what it means to meaningfully engage youth, describing it as a “systematic involvement of youth voices in the entire cycle of road safety policy including assessing needs, strategic planning, resource allocation, and implementing concrete actions.”

“We promote the design of a transport system that responds to youth needs; for them but with them.”

She also acknowledged how different agencies have led initiatives that involve multiple stakeholders as a means to speed up sustainable actions toward the implementation of the Global Plan for Road Safety 2021 – 2030.

In her speech, Raquel urged the leaders, decision-makers, and policymakers to meaningfully involve youth. “They are ready to put their ideas, experiences, opinions, and actions to ensure the healthier, safer, and sustainable transport system that they deserve.”

The National Road Safety Agencies Meeting
The Global Network of Heads of Road Safety Agencies Meeting gathered representatives from nearly a hundred countries who are responsible for implementing the United Nations Decade of Action for Global Road Safety 2021 – 2030.

The goal of the Meeting was to allow and support participants and representatives to share knowledge and experiences around the role of national road safety agencies in the strategic planning, role setting, multi-sector coordination, financing, and monitoring and evaluation of different national road safety plans across the globe.

“We promote the design of a transport system that responds to youth needs; for them but with them.”

Through the Meeting, YOURS as an organization created a stream of networks within different organizations that support and prioritize youth engagement in road safety efforts. Advocacy tools such as the Policymakers’ Toolkit were also shared to better guide leaders on how to institutionalize youth involvement within their offices.

Different organizations have commended the inclusion of youth voices and perspectives in the Meeting, all conceding to the role of youth in addressing road safety issues.

“So, dear leaders of today, are you ready to work together with the leaders of tomorrow?” – Raquel Barrios

DOWNLOAD OUR POLICYMAKERS’ TOOLKIT

Spotlight: 1.8 Billion Young People for Change Campaign during Raahgiri Day

by Youth For Road Safety | Jan 8, 2024 | News & Blog

18 June 2023 – The 1.8 Billion Young People for Change Campaign kicked off in Delhi, India during Raahgiri Day coordinated by FIA Foundation and Raahgiri Foundation. According to the World Resources Institute, Raahgiri Day was initially launched in 2013 as India’s first sustained car-free event. Every Sunday during the Raahgiri event, streets are closed to all motorized vehicles from morning until noon.

A group of Serbian students recently shared their campaign video with us on the trend of young using social media behind the wheel. In their efforts to raise awareness, the girls have created a campaign video focusing on “selfies” behind the wheel. Check it out here.

Students studying Traffic Engineering with a focus on road traffic safety, in their pre-exam period worked on a special road safety campaign project; shooting video and creating the preliminary design of posters.

The aim of the campaign is to point out how dangerous it is to use a mobile phone while driving, whether for communication and especially when taking photos a.k.a #selfies. Although the Law on Road Traffic Safety allowed the use of hands-free devices, it is not considered completely safe and recommended that the mobile phone is not used while driving.

As with the UN Global Road Safety Week’s message to #RethinkMobility, Raahgiri Day encourages people to walk, cycle, and take on other active modes of transport to promote cleaner, healthier, and more liveable cities.

Youth Coalition members Deepanshu Gupta, Ritu Jain, Pradeep Patange, Pankhuri Jain, and Anjali Tripathi were present during the event as the youth delegation for the G20 1.8 Bullion Campaign.

The 1.8B Campaign holds that youth and adolescent voices must be at the center of the decision-making process for their own health, well-being, empowerment, resilience, education skills, and connection to people and the planet.

“Young people in India are saying, ‘Listen to us on the climate crisis, listen to us on mental health, listen to us on sexual and reproductive health and rights listen to us on road safety, listen to us on mental health and nutrition,” That’s what we need to do – not talk about what young people need but listen to what young people want” – Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH) Chair Helen Clark.

The Campaign is the world’s largest-ever gathering for adolescent well-being, bringing together youth, adolescents, advocates, and decision-makers. It calls for leaders to support, protect, and empower youth ahead of the G20 Summit happening this September.

The G20 or Group of 20 Summit takes place through the Indian Presidency. This year, it will focus on the theme; ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. According to the SDG Knowledge Hub, the Indian Presidency will also spotlight environmental sustainability and responsible choices at the individual lifestyle and the national development level.

“We were in the lead of advocating for the Global Forum and have been helping to really build a strong coalition globally, with young people at the forefront of that coalition. We’ve been calling for action on all of the major priorities affecting young people with road safety as a central part of that agenda,” – FIA Foundation Deputy Director Avi Silverman.

The G20 is expected to adopt a Leaders’ Declaration at the conclusion of the Summit towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the Ministerial and Working Group Meetings (SDG Knowledge Hub, 2023).

MORE ABOUT THE 1.8B CAMPAIGN

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