Coalition joins launch of 6th UN Global Road Safety Week
Last Monday, May 17, the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week was launched on behalf of the UN Road Safety Collaboration. The theme for this year’s UNGRSW is Streets for Life and it raises awareness on the importance of 30 km/h streets. The global launch gathered global road safety leaders and representatives to talk about why low-speed streets are important in road safety and urban design.
The global launch featured discussions where leaders showed support and shared commitments to achieve 30 km/h streets in their communities. It also had a panel where ministers and youth representatives talked about areas that still needed to be addressed to make sure that low-speed streets are prioritized and ensured.
The Coalition was represented by Sana’a Khasawneh from Jordan and Omnia El Omrani from Egypt. Omnia and Sana’a both talked about the efforts of the Coalition to achieve low-speed streets, citing the demand to “slow down” in the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety.
Sana’a joined leaders like Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - Director-General of the World Health Organization, Maimuna Mohd Sharif – Executive Director of the UN Human Rights Settlements Programme, Jean Todt – the UN Secretary General’s Envoy for Road Safety, Michael Bloomberg – the WHO Global Ambassador for NCDs and Injuries, and more.
She spoke about why low-speed streets are important for young people as well as the efforts the Coalition is doing to make sure that road safety is prioritized in the global agenda.
“We are claiming our space and joining Streets for Life campaign to demand lowering speed limits to 30 km/h. We want streets that are safe and dynamic for living. We, the youth, are part of the solution”
Omnia joined a panel that also had leaders like Eike Van den Brandt – Minister of the Government in Brussels, Rob de Jong – Head of Sustainable Mobility from the UN Environment Programme, Stefanie Holzwarth - Urban Mobility Specialist from UN-Habitat, and Mirjam Sidik – Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.
During the panel, Omnia raised awareness on why road safety and the topic of low-speed streets are important for young people. She talked about how young people are often “under-represented” despite being the most affected when it comes to road crashes.
“We need the re-orientation of the decision-making table by prime ministers to provide a sustainable mechanism, not only for youth participation but also for the emergence and implementation of youth-led solutions”
