In July 2026, global leaders, institutions, and partners will gather in New York for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety. The focus is clear: moving from commitments to implementation.
We are halfway through the decade. The direction has been set for some time, but what is happening on the ground still does not fully reflect that ambition. In many places, progress feels slow. In others, it is difficult to see at all. The gap between what has been agreed and what people experience every day remains, and it is becoming harder to ignore.
This is what makes this moment important. Not because something new needs to be defined, but because what already exists needs to be delivered. The conversation is shifting, from what should happen to what is actually happening, and why.
Road safety is often treated as a transport issue, but it shapes much more than that. It affects how people move through their cities, what options feel safe to use, and what opportunities are realistically within reach. It also influences how cities respond to climate challenges and how inclusive those responses really are. Safety is not an add-on. It is what determines whether these systems work at all.
Across regions, this is already visible. Young people are shaping mobility systems through local action, partnerships, and ongoing work in their communities. In many cases, this is already influencing how solutions are tested, adapted, and implemented.
The question is no longer whether young people should be included. It is whether systems are designed to make use of that contribution. Where youth engagement is consistent and meaningful, it tends to change outcomes. Solutions become more grounded, more relevant, and more likely to last.
At the High-Level Meeting, YOURS will bring this into the conversation. The focus is on accountability, on connecting safety and sustainability, and on ensuring that youth engagement is part of implementation, not something that sits alongside it. This work is carried out in collaboration with governments, institutions, and partners, where different roles need to come together to make progress possible.
The meeting itself is only one step; what matters is what follows, how commitments are carried forward, how progress is tracked, and how systems continue to evolve over time.