Our Advocacy Director, Stefania Minniti, is attending the Inaugural Meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) Youth Council in Geneva, Switzerland from the 27th to the 30th of January to represent YOURS – Youth for Road Safety. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together the WHO Youth Council in person to finalize work plans and strategize on a roadmap through its working groups.
What is the WHO Youth Council?
According to WHO, the WHO Youth Council is a newly set up mechanism for meaningful youth engagement that will provide direct advice to the Director-General. The Council will consist of international youth organizations supporting and providing recommendations on critical health and development issues affecting young people through a comprehensive and inclusive WHO Youth Engagement Strategy.
The Youth Council will raise the profile of youth contribution to public health at a global, regional, national, and local entry-level. The Council will also support WHO in its efforts to strengthen youth contributions to public health systems through advocacy actions.
The WHO Youth Council will drive a global advocacy initiative with related mandates and indicators.
YOURS at the WHO Youth Council
YOURS joins the WHO Youth Council as one of the youth organizations promoting meaningful youth participation in road safety. YOURS has over a decade of experience in youth empowerment and meaningful youth participation. With the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, YOURS represents over 1600 young people from 115 countries worldwide.
Because road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for youth aged 5-29 years, it is crucial that young leaders with experience in road safety and sustainable mobility are represented among the members of the WHO Youth Council.
Road safety is a facilitator of multiple Sustainable Development Goals, particularly good health and well-being, quality education, reduction of inequalities, sustainable cities, and climate action. Tackling road safety through meaningful youth participation as part of an overall approach to saving lives on the road will bring massive development co-benefits to overall development.
We will follow up with more details after attending the inauguration.