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