Road Safety forums and Capacity Building sessions launched in Nigeria

Local Actions winner, Simon Patrick Obi, has organized and completed two major activities that supported its objectives of organizing intergenerational dialogues between government stakeholders and youth, creating awareness on the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 - 2030, and showcasing the impacts of addressing road safety issues in the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Simon and his team organized road safety forums and capacity-building sessions for young leaders. He and his team leveraged GreenLight Initiative’s partnerships with key stakeholders to implement these activities. The young people who made up the participants were selected from different organizations and civil society groups from Abuja. 

Through these activities, Simon and his team identified the main obstacles that hindered meaningful youth involvement in efforts to shape national road safety policies.

The first activities include a Youth Forum for Youth Leaders and a Capacity Development workshop on an introduction to Road Safety. These were realized through close collaboration with the Youth African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Abuja and the Road Users Development Network of Nigeria. 

Through Simon’s leadership and his organization, GreenLight Initiative, the implementation team and the participants expired the barriers preventing youth inclusion in road safety and decision-making spaces. Included in the discussions were exploring potential solutions to address the lack of youth participation and some road safety issues in the community. 

Fifty-two youth leaders were introduced to road safety and trained on the best approach to getting involved in road safety. The participating youth leaders have also been introduced to the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.

Apart from these engagement activities, Simon and his team were also able to visit different road safety stakeholders in Abuja. They also reached out to decision-makers, updating them about the progress of their work and the youth they were able to engage. 

“For the very first time in Nigeria, a young person was included in the Nigeria delegation to attend the UN High-Level Meeting in New York. This progress was achieved through advocacy letters and physical meetings with the Director of Road Transport and Urban Mass Transit at the Nigeria Ministry of Transportation. “ - Simon Patrick Obi 

Simon and his team are still pushing local governments to actively engage and involve youth in road safety. The team is also planning an upcoming intergenerational dialogue between decision-makers as a strategy to gather commitments to meaningful youth involvement in road safety.