November has been a massive month for global road safety with a number of key events taking place. The pinnacle of which was the 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety, which took place on the 18th-19th November 2015. In the same week, a number of pre events took place bringing renewed focus on a range of road safety topics.
On the 16th November, the FIA Foundation convened at the Child and Urban Health Forum asking the question, “How can urban mobility be transformed to improve health and quality of life for children?” As many parts of the world experience both rapid urbanisation and motorisation, combined with a big increase in the youth demographic, providing safer streets, safe routes to school and sustainable transport alternatives becomes ever more critical.
A number of key discussions and round table events took place within the context of the forum with a focus on the importance of protecting our society’s most vulnerable members, children. The forum also offered participants a chance to take stock of the achievement of attaining key road safety targets within the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
“We have our global goals for Road Safety, it’s time to remind governments what they signed up for” – Lord Robertson
The event gave a focus on achieving the two targets set in the Post-2015 Development Agenda’s Global Goals.
To achieve safe and sustainable mobility for all children under SDG targets 3.6 (Health) and 11.2 (Cities) will require a coalition of governments, cities, donors and civil society organisations. The Roundtable, convened at the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, heard from a range of partners committed to making a difference. YOURS Director, Floor Lieshout took part in a panel discussion mapping various approaches to achieving the said goals as well as celebrating the achievement of 1 million signatures for the #SaveKidsLives Campaign.
Also on the 16th, 500 children gathered in Brasilia to mark the #SaveKidsLives 1million signature count as well as call on leaders attending the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety to prioritize children and youth in their future road safety plans.
On the 17th November, within the context of 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety which provided a vital opportunity to secure new political commitment and momentum for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and the road safety targets included in the new Sustainable Development Goals. NGOs will be key to delivering these ambitious objectives, as they make road safety an issue that is personal, highlighting the real human impact, and holding policymakers to account. On the eve of the Brasilia Conference the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety organized a Rally to discuss global campaigns, exchange views with Ministers, hear updates from members and make partnership announcements.
The rally celebrated the achievement of one million signatures for the #SaveKidsLives Child Declaration and discussed future collaborations. It was decided at the rally that the campaign should continue to inspire and move towards a phase of concrete action.
Director of YOURS, Floor Lieshout delieverd a presentation on the success of the #SaveKidsLives campaign and asked the NGO community if the campaign should continue. The resounding response was that the campaign should continue and move towards action.
Both events gave a robust focus to the plight of children and young people on the world’s roads. As effective pre-events for to the 2nd Global High-Level Meeting on Road Safety, the events energized both the road safety leadership and civil society NGO community to call on their decision makers to take action during the conference.