Global Advocacy

Giving young people a voice at the highest levels.

 

 

 

 

un logo 1Representation at
a global level

YOURS is an official member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC). The Collaboration is an informal consultative mechanism with members spanning a vast array of road safety stakeholders; UN Commissions, International Agencies, Foundations, NGOs and the private sector. Read more about UNRSC members here.

At the UNRSC, we represent the youth and placing road safety for young people on the table of the world's road safety stakeholders. As well as representing youth issues, the global agenda and coordination undertaken at the highest level is communicated and presented in a more youth friendly way to our youth champions. At the UN, we ensure that youth participation in global road safety activities remains high on the agenda.

"Let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world. Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours."

Ban Ki Moon - Former Secretary General, United Nations

 

 

Global Goals for Sustainable Development

YOURS led the youth push for road safety within the Global Goals. In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the Global Goals. There was a conscious effort to gather and take into consideration young people’s voices.

These processes built in to the overall picture of the Sustainable Development Goals would create before finalizing its scope. YOURS, in its mission to mainstream youth and road safety issues into the wider global development agenda, actively participated in a range of consultative efforts. These efforts contributed to both the ‘youth involvement’ in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and a wider push by youth advocates calling road safety for in line with the global road safety community's advocacy targets.

Along with relentless campaigning from the global road safety community at large, we saw the inclusion of two road safety targets – in the Health and Cities Goals. Road safety is included in the world’s mainstream development agenda for the first time.

A united stand for road safety

YOURS has rich experience in creating youth declarations for road safety. Declarations act as a fundamental advocacy tool to open dialogue between young people and key decision makers to discuss the issue and lobby for increased measures to save young lives. Youth declarations can be a powerful tool for advocacy, in fact, YOURS was born from the World Youth Declaration for Road Safety 2007. Here we highlight our most recent youth declarations all the way back to our first one.

Youth Declarations for Road Safety are only as significant as their active pursuit and implementation. Youth can use these declarations to put pressure on decision makers for road safety but we must ensure that all declarations are followed up on to see if the adoption and endorsement of such declarations and advocacy points have been enacted.

 

Explore our declarations

Young leaders meet for road safety

One of our missions is to connect passionate youth advocates and youth-led NGO's, active in the road safety field around the world. Over the years, young people have connected in assemblies organized by YOURS so that they can work together and easily share information and experience. Our aim is to connect young people globally and regionally while simultaneously giving a stronger voice to youth and road safety issues around the world.

We have helped to run assemblies in Africa, Europe and The Middle East, building on from the first World Youth Assembly for Road Safety.

Objectives of assemblies orientate around:

  • Bringing together young leaders in road safety to share information, practices and ideas;
  • To inspire young people to take action as part of a wider network of road safety activists;
  • To empower young people with new skills, expert knowledge and practical steps to take action in their countries;
  • To unite as a global youth movement for road safety and advocating for road safety as a unified organization

 

 

Read about 2nd World youth Assembly for Road Safety 2020

Public speaking redefined

Young people are the biggest affected group in society and of course, have a lot to say about their peers being killed on the road! Engaging young people in high-level events is an important step towards active participation in road safety. Over the years, YOURS has spoken at some of the world's highest-level road safety events to call on the world's decision makers to actively engage young people in road safety decision-making. YOURS encourages decision makers to see young people as equal partners as well as build on the creativity, skills and energy that young people bring to any social cause.

A youth presence at road safety events is crucial, especially since young people themselves are redefining how we pursue road safety advocacy, education and campaigning. Young people have an active role to play and have undertaken road safety initiatives around the world that has exemplified real impact. YOURS has a mission to encourage more decision makers to engage with young people, to empower them and to bring them onto the table as equal partners in preventing road crashes.

 

 

 

 

 


Join the movement! Road safety starts with YOU.

Join the Youth Coalition Use our resources