Asia members of the Coalition: what we want for the New Decade

The Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety has nearly 700 members from over 100 different countries worldwide. To make sure that each region is represented, the Coalition assigned regional leaders to account for the opinions and ideas of our members from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania.

As part of our preparations for the launch of the Global Plan, Asia’s regional leaders Minh Vo from Vietnam and Hemant Tiwari from Nepal engaged with members to ask them about their demands and wishes for the New Decade of Action through the Global Plan. 

From their meetings and conversations, the members of the Asia region identified seven key asks for decision-makers, policymakers, and other stakeholders; to reduce the number of road-related deaths and injuries by 2030, to have road safety at the top of the government’s agendas, to ensure 3-star roads through road audits, to have an increase in the implementation and usage of child restraints, to increase helmet use, to create more awareness programs to raise road user knowledge on road safety, and to conduct more studies to guide the creation and implementation of road safety interventions. 

The New Decade of Action for Road Safety reaffirms the commitment to work tirelessly for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and extends the road safety target of halving the number of road-related fatalities from 2020 to 2030. Following the release of the New Decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a Global Plan – a document that describes all that is needed to achieve the target of halving the number of road-related deaths and injuries by the end of the Decade. The Plan also calls on governments, partners, and other stakeholders to implement the safe systems approach. 

In the latest Plan, young people are listed as key stakeholders who have a major role to play in achieving the road safety targets listed in the Decade. 

On the subject of road safety, Coalition member Yasmine Al Moghrabi from Lebanon explains that, because road safety is not as prioritized, road crashes remain to be a huge issue in her community. She emphasizes that development can only be maintained once the protection of every road user is ensured. 

 “There is no lasting call for sustainable development if we don’t take appropriate measure to protect everyone – every pedestrian, every passenger, and every driver,”  - Yasmine Al Moghrabi 

Members of the Coalition, through the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety, have also declared their commitments for road safety. Among the commitments of youth listed in the statement include advocating for better road safety laws and enforcement and quality forms of non-motorized transport and better post-crash care. Find out more by checking out the Global Youth Statement! 

Find out how you can use the Global Plan by joining the launch happening this Thursday, 28 October at 2 pm CET.