Alongside the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety and the global momentum of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, YOURS has been involved in an advocacy push calling for selected permanent missions to keep in the specific road safety targets mentioned in the Sustainable Development Agenda. Alongside this, we have called on global leaders to be involved in the Brasilia conference in November and bring a youth delegation with them. The advocacy push has been lead by Mr Aakash Shah, YOURS’ Ambassador for the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
The United Nations is in the process of defining a post-2015 development agenda. This agenda will be launched at a Summit in September 2015, currently being elaborated through informal consultations of the UN General Assembly. The President of the General Assembly has appointed two Co-facilitators to lead those informal consultations.
The process of arriving at the post 2015 development agenda is Member State-led with broad participation from Major Groups and other civil society stakeholders. There has been numerous inputs to the agenda, notably a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by an open working group of the General Assembly, the report of an intergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable development financing, GA dialogues on technology facilitation and many others.
Read more about udpates on the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
Within this process, YOURS’ Ambassador on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, Mr Aakash Shah has been leading an advocacy push to reach out to permanent missions at the United Nations calling for specific support on targets in the Sustainable Development Agenda and involvment in the High Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia. The letter is reproduced here as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam,
The impetus of this letter is to underline the importance of keeping road safety in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and to encourage you to participate in the Second High Level Conference on Road Safety which will take place on 18-19 November 2015 in Brasilia, Brazil.
The #SaveKidsLives campaign is a unique global road safety campaign shaped with the prime motive of drawing attention to the urgent need for better protection of children against road traffic fatalities. Currently globally over 680,000 people support the Child Declaration for Road Safety . This massive support illustrates a plea to make road safety for children a priority.
The Child Declaration for Road Safety is a call for action; children and experts jointly drafted it. Children have voiced their thoughts and fears about traveling on roads, and experts have summarized measures that must be taken to keep children safe on roads. These measures are already well known but too often they are not put in place. They must become a priority for governments for future development. This is why we are very pleased to read within the Post-2015 Development Agenda a proposed global health goal on road traffic crashes (3.6) and a road safety goal within safe, sustainable cities (11.2):
- By 2030, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents and, in the interim, by 2020, stabilize and then reduce global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
- By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons
The #SaveKidsLives campaign, together with partners around the world, is calling on world leaders to ensure that these targets remain featured in the Post-2015 Development Agenda when they are launched in September 2015. We urge you to support this much-needed target to reduce the burden of road traffic crashes globally.
Once these targets are officially adopted within the Post-2015 Development Agenda, we are calling for governments worldwide to show their commitment and to discuss action at the Second High Level Conference on Road Safety , which will take place on 18-19 November 2015 in Brasilia, Brazil. This will be an exceptional opportunity for governments to make the words in the Post-2015 Development Agenda real and to ensure they will not remain ink on paper.
Therefore we would like to encourage you to take part in the Second High Level Conference on Road Safety and request you to ensure your country is represented through a high-level delegation. Believing in the power of youth and civil society, we would highly recommend the inclusion of real youth and NGO participation in the conference and kindly suggest incorporating youth leaders and NGO representatives in your delegation.
We are very grateful for your support towards the proposed targets, your consideration in taking part in the Second High Level Conference on Road Safety and for your continued commitment to ending the carnage that occurs daily on the world’s roads. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours sincerely,
