Local Actions Quesion and Answer Session led by 2021 winners

Last week, 20 January, the Global Youth Coalition held an exclusive Q&A session between its members and previous Local Actions winners. The short discussion was designed to help members create impactful project plans and proposals that could potentially be funded by the Youth Coalition through its partners.

The session was led by YOURS – Youth for Road Safety Junior Project Manager Sana’a Khasawneh and featured Local Actions leaders Nkumbuye Amie from Rwanda, Linda Nekesa Masibo from Belgium, Bernardo Pietrobelli from Brazil, Oliva Nalwadda from Uganda, and Sukma Larastiti from Indonesia. Members were reminded about the different principles behind the Local Actions and were given examples of the support they could receive upon being selected as one of the winners.

1.     Where should members who want to lead a Local Actions Project begin? 
They can start by interacting with their peers to collectively think about the problem at hand that they want to solve within their community. Consult with key stakeholders that they are interested in working with within their project and check in with the Global Youth Coalition website for any information, any training on how to improve their project proposal. – Oliva Nalwadda 

2.     While implementing your project, what are some of the challenges you faced? 
The main challenge we faced while implementing the project was COVID-19. Every month, the restrictions would change and some of the schools that we wanted to visit for our project were closed. During this time, we utilized technology and other digital tools to reach some of our stakeholders. We called them and booked appointments to see how we can continue with the project. We were also challenged by the time constraints brought on by the changing protocols – but again, we utilized all resources at our disposal – Nkumbuye Amie 

3.     How we can connect the global goals with road safety issues? 
The Sustainable Development Goals are all connected, and that’s what I really like about the SDGs; the issues intersect with all the other issues. When it comes to SDGs, think about their intersectionality. You can’t talk about one issue without seeing how it affects other things. - Linda Nekesa Masibo

4.     How can leaders achieve all their projects on time during the implementation phase?
Organization is key. After you do all the planning, you need to leave some margins to adapt and so we organized. The pandemic also affected the implementation phase of our project. We also worked with local schools so we were coming back and forth to see if the schools were closed and had to decide whether the activities were to be conducted online or offline. I think one of the key suggestions I would give is to leave some margin. Also, the more concrete plans you make, the more you understand the resources you need and what kind of schedule you’re looking at. With this, chances will be better for you to stay on time throughout the journey. - Bernado Pietrobelli

5.     How can I build a team if I don’t have a team as versed in road safety? 
The first thing to do is meet with new people and build our network. When we have more people, we have perspectives, ideas, and we can solve bigger problems together. It was challenging to talk about road safety because it’s a new topic in Indonesia so not a lot of people know and understand road safety issues. To address this, we tried to campaign our issue through discussions and social media. Through this, we found that a lot of people had a similar vision to ours. They even said that they wanted to join us and now we have a growing network. 

The winners also took questions and clarifications from the participants, making sure to advise them based on their experiences. 

Get the chance to lead the implementation of your own project by taking part in our Local Actions! Help contribute to the achievement of the different road safety goals listed in the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and the New Decade of Action for Road Safety! 

Send us your proposal!