At Safety 2026 in Cape Town, YOURS brought youth-led experiences, practical advocacy tools and evidence of impact to global discussions on building safer mobility systems.
Young people around the world are already identifying mobility challenges and developing solutions in their communities. But turning these efforts into lasting change requires more than enthusiasm. It requires meaningful participation, stronger partnerships and sustained investment.
This was a central message of YOURS’ participation at Safety 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa, where global experts, researchers and practitioners gathered to exchange knowledge and approaches to injury prevention and safety.
Together with the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB), YOURS hosted a satellite session exploring how youth-led urban safety initiatives can contribute to wider systems change. The conversation examined what it takes to move beyond consultation and create genuine opportunities for young people to influence city-level decisions.
From power-sharing with young leaders to building long-term partnerships and mobilising investment, the discussion reinforced the importance of creating environments where youth-led solutions can grow beyond individual projects.
YOURS also presented Changing Lanes: Youth Driving the Movement for Safer Mobility, a practical advocacy toolkit designed to help young people translate their ideas into evidence-based strategies. Through stakeholder mapping, advocacy planning and engagement with decision-makers, the toolkit offers young advocates practical guidance to influence mobility policies and programmes.
Beyond the conversations and tools, Safety 2026 was an opportunity to highlight the reach of youth-led action supported by YOURS. Since 2020, these initiatives have extended across 26 countries, directly engaging more than 110,000 people and indirectly reaching over 2.7 million.
These results reflect what young people can achieve when their local knowledge and leadership are supported with resources and opportunities to act. They also point to the importance of strengthening connections between community-led initiatives and the institutions capable of supporting broader change.
As YOURS advances its 2026–2030 Strategy, the discussions in Cape Town reinforced a clear direction: young people are already developing solutions for safer mobility. The next step is ensuring they have the investment, partnerships and decision-making power to take those solutions further.
