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 2nd 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;
- 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
- 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
- Support youth in designing and implementing local plans reflecting on issues on the ground by localizing the Global Youth Statement
- 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 2nd 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.
“You may not have been part of the decisions made in the past but you have the power to act today and tomorrow. And we, the youth, will also play our part as active citizens in society. We want to be part of the solution as equal partners. Not only informed and consulted but also participate meaningfully in the decision-making process. This will help you shape better policies and services that consider our needs.” – Raquel Barrios
Learn more about the youth consultations by going to the Coalition website!