This week, Manila became the stage for one of the region’s most important gatherings on road safety: the Asia-Pacific Regional Road Safety Conference 2025, hosted by the Asian Development Bank together with GRSP, APRSO, Bridgestone Asia Pacific, and iRAP. From governments and development banks to researchers, advocates, and civil society, the event united key players under one roof to discuss how to strengthen and diversify financing for safer roads.
On the final day, youth voices were front and centre. Our Executive Director, Raquel Barrios, joined the plenary session “Shaping Safer Roads Together: Civil Society, Investment, and the Road to 2030.” Alongside experts from China, India, and the Philippines, she shared how youth leadership is transforming the global road safety movement.
Raquel highlighted three ways youth are making a difference:
Accountability: ensuring that government promises translate into real action and safer streets.
Coalition-building: connecting voices from across more than 120 countries into one powerful force.
Evidence-based solutions: bringing lived experience and data together to design effective, future-focused interventions.
Her message was clear: young people are not just beneficiaries of safer roads — they are co-architects of mobility systems that protect lives. And this leadership does not act in isolation. It works hand in hand with governments, civil society, and the private sector as one force with a shared goal: safer mobility for all.
This message resonates strongly in the Philippines 🇵🇭, where YOURS is proud to support the Link4All project. In Western Visayas, the project is breaking new ground by co-developing the region’s first Road Safety Action Plan — designed in collaboration with young advocates whose lived experiences and ideas are shaping every step. Earlier this year, the project brought together young leaders for a two-day Link4All Summit, where participants prepared through three YOURS Academy modules, equipping them with the skills and confidence to influence policy discussions.
From the regional stage in Manila to the local streets of Western Visayas, the story is the same: youth leadership works. It brings urgency, innovation, and accountability to the road safety agenda. The smartest investment we can make on the road to 2030 is in their leadership — because their safety and their solutions are inseparable.
🌍✨ Together, across generations and sectors, we are moving closer to safer roads for all.