Indonesia Youth Road Safety Warriors 2022: Time to take action!
Figure 6. High-school campaign
Written by: Estiara Ellizar
Following the success of the first Indonesia Youth Road Safety Warriors 2021, Indonesia Road Safety Partnership (IRSP) is pleased to announce the second Indonesia Youth Road Safety Warriors 2022 from September 20 until November 17, 2022. The Indonesia Youth Road Safety Warriors (IYRSW) is part of the national education program from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Indonesia, entitled “Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka” (Independent Study Independent Campus), equivalent to two-semester credit systems (2 credits).
This program was made possible through a partnership between the Indonesia Road Safety Partnership (IRSP), the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Indonesia, PT Astra Honda Motor, MIROS Malaysia, and some colleges. Six colleges have participated in this program with a total of 134 students. The six colleges are Indonesian Land Transport Polytechnic (PTDI), Road Transport Safety Polytechnic (PKTJ), Trisakti Transport and Logistics Institute (ITL Trisakti), Gadjah Mada University, Mercu Buana University, Land Transport Polytechnic of Bali.
The IYRSW was begun with a 2-days Webinar that was officially launched by the Minister of Transportation, Indonesia, H.E. Budi Karya Sumadi, on September 20, 2022. The Minister also officially closed this program on November 17, 2022, by inaugurating the new alumni as members of the Indonesia Youth Road Safety Coalition (IYRSC), a space for all alumni of the IYRSW program that now has a total of 194 members.
Figure 1. Minister of Transportation, Indonesia, H.E Budi Karya Sumadi
During the closing webinar, the Minister talked about the importance to maximize the use of Social Media by the youth as a platform to raise awareness of road safety. “Social media platform is very important to promote or campaign for road safety such as wearing seat belts and wearing helmets. It is hoped that by promoting it on social media, it will expand the reach of the message and will further increase the awareness of the young generation about the importance of road safety” said the Minister on the closing webinar.
He also emphasized that road safety is a shared responsibility and encourage all stakeholders to strengthen the collaboration between Government, Private Sector, Academics, and Communities that are concerned about road safety. “The IYRSW program is relevant to reduce road traffic fatalities in Indonesia, which is dominated by 73% of motorcycles with the age of 15-24” closed the Minister.
Figure 2. President of IRSP, Dr. Elly Sinaga
IRSP President, Dr. Elly Sinaga also committed the support and strengthening millennial engagement in the road safety program. “We need to collaborate to strengthen and empower our millennial road safety leaders in the world by engaging in our road safety program. We’ll be looking forward to welcoming you in the 3rd of Indonesia Youth Road Safety Warriors 2023” said Dr. Elly during the closing webinar. This statement indicates the program will run sustainably to support the global agenda to reduce road traffic fatalities by 50%.
YOURS – Youth Road Safety Executive Director, Floor Lieshout, was also present about Meaningful Youth Participation. He started his presentation by giving some true or false questions that lead to the importance of engaging young people in improving road safety. Through his presentation, we understand that the most effective way to reduce RTIs among youth is not to educate them on their road use behavior, but to (co-) design a safe mobility system protecting youth. “Meaningful youth participation means that young people’s experiences, ideas, expertise, and perspectives are systematically integrated into programmatic, policy, and decision-making institutions,” said Floor during the closing webinar.
Figure 3. Executive Director of Youth for Road Safety (YORS), Floor Lieshout
About IYRSW Program
IYRSW Program is an initiative from IRSP to support the new Global Plan Decade of Action for Road Safety and the implementation of Presidential Decree No 1 of the Year 2022 about the Road Safety National Plan. This program aims for the students to have the ability to behave properly and correctly on the road, especially by using motorbikes for the safety of other road users and to be able to have a positive influence on their environment. During the 2-month course, it provided basic road safety knowledge including the concept of road safety, Indonesia’s road safety master plan, risk factors on vehicles, human behaviour, public speaking, leadership, road safety campaign, and life skill/social intelligence. Moreover, it also followed by 2-days safety riding practice at Astra Honda Motor Riding Park. Manpreet Darroch, YOURS Capacity Development Director took part as a lecturer on the topic of “Leadership for Youth”.
Figure 4. Safety riding practice at Astra Honda Motor Riding Park
The 2nd IYRSW program offered 3 (three) new activities which are Company Visit, Mini Mentoring, and Road Safety Campaign in High-School. In Company Visit, the students were divided into several groups to visit different companies which are DAMRI Public Corporation, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia, and PT. Lookman Djaja Logistics, PT. Dinamika Makmur Sentosa, and PT. Mitra Pinasthika Mulia. The purpose of the visit was to find out more about how the company implements the safety system, including the journey from home to the office and Health, Security, and Environment (HSE) during work.
Figure 4. Company Visit to DAMRI Public Corporation, an Indonesian state-owned bus operator
In the Mini Mentoring, the participants visited WHO Indonesia Office in Jakarta. The Youth Leadership Board (YLB) member, Estiara Ellizar, accompanied the students during this mini-mentoring. The mini-mentoring was moderated by WHO representative from Indonesia, Dr. Ashra Daswin and was followed by the speaker, Dr. Tashi Tobgay as WHO South-East Asia Region representative, and Dr. Fransiska Mardianingsih as WHO representative from Indonesia.
Figure 5. Mini mentoring to WHO Indonesia office