Youth claiming their space within the Global Plan of Action for Road Safety

Last August 2020, the United Nation adopted resolution 74/299 "Improving global road safety", proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. The plan highlights how governments and member states can take action in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 3.6 - halving the number of road-related deaths and injuries by the year 2030.

In the same resolution, the UN General Assembly requested WHO and the UN Regional Commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collaboration and other stakeholders, to prepare a plan of action of the Second Decade as a guiding document to support the implementation of the Decade’s objective.

However, it has come to the Coalition’s attention that the plan does little to recognize Youth as stakeholders to fight their own #1 leading cause of death and to help shape their own future around sustainable mobility.

Young people have been, as we see often, solely recognized as victims. The Coalition, through the Youth Advisory Board, is leading the demands to recognize Youth as equal partners in developing and implementing the Global Plan and a driving force to help deliver the Global Goals, including its road safety targets.

By ignoring Youth as stakeholders, the Global Plan is also failing to consider best practices around meaningful youth engagement guidelines to member states, set by the UN and WHO, respectively through the UN Youth Strategy 2030 and WHO Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!)

In 2020, promises were made to young people during the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Sweden. We cannot afford to have the new Decade of Action for Road Safety without Youth. They have every right to be part of it.

As a result, the Coalition is demanding to have young people involved in the global plan by submitting a plan where young people are at the center of the Global Plan of Action.

We are very proud to share the Youth Submission for the new Decade of Action (DoA) for Road Safety which has gained support from all sectors and shows that many stakeholders are ready to work together with young people. This strengthens us in our call to amend the Plan.