YOURS has teamed up with International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) to create our new ‘Youth Stars’ programme, sponsored by FedEx. The three year programme will see a group of 5 Master Trainers from around the world be trained on the principles of the new ‘Star Rating for Schools’ methodology pioneered by iRAP. Youth Stars will is a programme expanding across the world with the potential to save young lives around universities and schools.
The Youth Stars programme is an opportunity for our Master Trainers to be trained on a powerful road safety approach; Star Rating for Schools.
Too many young people are dying on the way to get an education because of poor infrastructure and a lack of protection around school/university zones.
This Youth Stars programme will equip our 5 Master Trainers with the skills to rate school zones. We want to take school zones to a minimum 3* rating which can significantly improve road safety around schools and for all society. The star rating approach is evidence based and lifesaving and our Master Trainers will be to equipped the skills and knowledge to undertake star assessments in their local area, and support our group of Coalition Partners in the coming year.
Overview of the programme
The project focuses on attracting youth organizations that work with or represent youth and students of university/college age (16-25) around the globe to actively assess and rate zones (roads) around university/educational institutions. This includes the route to and from places of education.
Objectives: Over the three years the programme will:
- train a CORE Group of Master Trainers in using and explaining the SR4S app;
- recruit a coalition of partners who will be trained on using the app by Master Trainers;
- see partners conduct assessments around schools/colleges/universities in their country/area;
- empower partners to run advocacy activities to call for infrastructure changes;
- enable partners to roll out the programme further in the country by training others to use the app.
- enhance the app to provide functionality in line with other objective
In year one Master Trainers will be trained on all elements of undertaking Star Rating Assessments by iRAP and YOURS as well as understanding the advocacy activities that stimulate infrastructure changes.
In year two, Master Trainers will work with a Coalition of Partners to support them to undertake Star Ratings around schools/educational institutions and the advocacy activities needed to improve school zones.
In year three, Coalition Partners will reach out to other organizations in their network to support them in undertaking more assessments.
After assessing and rating the zones, organizations will follow up by advocating recommendations for improvement to take roads to a minimum 3* around their educational institutions.
Meet our Master Trainers
Master Trainers (MTs) have been recruited by YOURS to be trained on conducting Star Ratings for Schools/Universities and be able to train Coalition Partners in the coming year.
Alex Ayub
Alex is from Kenya and is a passionate young leader who has been working road safety for some years. He was trained by YOURS as a Road Safety Youth Facilitator and currently works for the Kenya Red Cross managing youth programmes.
Daniel Cano
Daniel is from Colombia and is a strong advocate for road safey in South American Region. He works with YOURS as a Regional Champion for Road Safety in the region and currently works for the World Resources Institute in Mexico
Jacob Smith
Jacob is from the United States of America and is a survivor of a horrific road crash. Since then, he has been a vocal global advocate for road safety and young people. He is highly experienced in road safety and woks with YOURS as a Regional Champion for North America. He currently works for the National Safety Council.
Shantel Jacobs
Shantel is from Belize and was trained by YOURS as a peer-educator and youth facilitator. She was the engine behind setting up the Belizean Youth for Road Safety NGO and is currently its head. She is an active and passionate voice for road safety in the country. She currently works for the Belizean Government.
Minh Vo
Minh is from Vietnam and is a graduate in urban planning. She has lots of experience of using the Star Rating for School app in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and is passionate about road safety and its impact on communities. She currently works for the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation (AIP Foundation).
Project Coordinator, Manpreet Darroch said, ‘This is a great opportunity for our young people to have another powerful tool in their campaigner toolkit to work on infrastructure changes around schools. This simple Star Rating for School Methodology gives young poeple a strong case for advocacy when looking at evidence based improvedments around schools that can save lives.
Thank you to our sponsor FedEx for bringing this programme to fruition and our collaborating partner iRAP, with whom we will be working closely with over the course of the programme.”
Rafaela Machado, Star Rating for Schools Global Coordinator said, “As SR4S Lead Partner, YOURS has been playing a valuable role in the development of Star Rating for Schools Programme, helping to shape the programme to the needs of partners and users around the world. We are very excited with the launch of the Youth Stars programme and its potential to help communities all over the world to create safer school environments. The Master Trainers are enthusiastic road safety champions that will certainly achieve great results empowering communities in demanding safer roads through evidence-based approaches, at the same time that will contribute to the continuous enhancement of the SR4S system”.
More details about the programme will be updated online.