Last March 2021, YOURS – Youth for Road Safety officially welcomed Michelin Corporate Foundation as a Programme Partner to the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. The partnership between the Coalition and Michelin Corporate Foundation will invest and support the Coalition’s work to empower youth across the globe. In their annual report, Michelin reiterated the partnership and supported the youth and road safety movement. Our relationship with Michelin goes back all the way to 2009 where Michelin became the Founding Member of the organization. We reproduced the article here:
Road crashes are the leading killer of young adults aged between 15 and 29. Almost 350,000 die each year and 80% of them are males.
To help in fighting this scourge the NGO YOURS (Youth for Road Safety) was set up in 2007. It has grown steadily and in 2010 became an official member of UNRSC (United Nations Road Safety Collaboration), the road safety body attached to the UN. The aim of YOURS is to improve road safety by encouraging thousands of young people known as ‘ambassadors’ and ‘champions’ to take part in preventive actions, to spread information, and mobilize their peers.
Despite increased awareness, the death rate in 2019 remained high. The reasons for this are perfectly clear: not wearing a helmet or seat belt, speed, alcohol, and lots of attention. In this situation, it is more than ever essential to inform young people and, what is more important, involve them in designing solutions.
This priority was recalled at the 2nd World Youth Conference held in Sweden on February 18th, 2020. Jointly organized by YOURS and the World Health Organization, it was a prelude to the third world ministerial conference on road safety arranged by the United Nations. The assembly called for increased efforts to meet new road safety targets between now and 2030 and speed up the transition to safer, cheaper, easier to use, and more sustainable modes of transport.
In July 2020, YOURS launched the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, a platform bringing together individual members and organizations with the aim of creating momentum to make roads safer. Its objective is to offer resources, skills, partnerships, and opportunities to spread ideas and maximize their impact. Since its creation, 300 members from 76 countries have joined the Coalition.
The potential behind this initiative has encouraged Michelin to extend its support for YOURS whose ambition of promoting safer mobility in tune with sustainable development is central to Michelin’s own commitments.