Rwanda Students' Statement presented to Traffic Police in the Southern Province

Nkumbuye Amie, one of the Coalition’s Local Actions winners, presented the Rwandan Students’ Statement on Road Safety to the Traffic Police in the Southern Province. The Rwandan Students’ Statement, patterned after the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety, presents the road safety situation Rwandan students face every day.

The statement identifies the key issues that worsen the road safety condition and lists down organizations that can contribute to alleviating these problems. 

 

The Statement was presented at the Head Quarter of Traffic Police in Southern Province last 8 September 2021. During the meeting, Amie talked about road safety, linking the importance of sustainable transport in society, especially during the time of a pandemic. 

Amie also talked about the road safety efforts the Global Youth Coalition is leading. He talked about Local Actions, emphasizing the work he’s doing to raise road safety awareness and post-crash care response to schools and students around Rwanda. He makes a point of talking about how important road safety is when it comes to sustainable development. 

Talking about his project, Traffic Care Youth Initiative, Amie shared the progress he and his team have made to get more young people interested and involved in road safety efforts. Included in the highlights are the trainings on road safety for the teachers of the twenty-one schools visited around Rwanda. He also talked about the teaching sessions they conducted to educate young students about road safety and post-crash care.

Following this, Amie presented the Rwanda Students’ Statement on Road Safety to advocate for the demands of students for safer roads and more sustainable forms of mobility around their schools. These demands include; proper enforcement around school zones, stricter measures to avoid drink driving in all instances, and avenues to organize national road safety awareness campaigns.

After the event, the Traffic Police committed to work with Amie and his team to further road safety efforts around the area by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vision Zero youth Council Rwanda. The pandemic is providing additional challenges but Amie, his team, and the Traffic Police will continue organizing national campaigns to keep raising awareness on road safety.

To provide additional support, the Traffic Police will work closely with local governments to identify schools that do not yet have 30 km/h speed signs where they will eventually be installed for the safety of the students.