Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Galeboe Motlhajoe

1. Where are you connected right now? Tell us about the work you're doing.
I am in the Botswana Society of Road Safety Ambassadors (SORSA). We do projects like small infrastructure improvements around the school zone to install speed humps, 30km speed limits, and pedestrian crossing. We also have a tsela tshweu project otherwise dubbed as the “visibility project” where we put up reflective tapes in non-motorized being donkey carts and bicycles. Last but not least, we also conduct road safety capacity building training sessions where we call on young people to take the lead and empower them to take action.

2. How did you first get involved in road safety and how long have you been working in the road safety and sustainable mobility field? 
I first got involved in road safety back in primary school during the scholar patrol training. I’ve been working on road safety and sustainable mobility for the last eight years.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about the road safety and sustainable mobility situation in your area? 
In my area, we have stakeholders interested in road safety education. Before the pandemic, we would do outreach projects at malls where we led road safety education sessions and other related modes of training. The road safety situation in our area consists of the loss of around 450 people per year because of road crashes. The majority of these victims are usually young people.

4. Why do you think it's important to include young people in local and global road safety efforts? 
They are the future leaders of today and tomorrow. They are also active in their communities where they always consider the most vulnerable members of society.

5. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety?
I wanted to benchmark and be trained and mentored by professionals in road safety.

6. What are your comments on the Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities? 
It is a great initiative and the activities are great as well as the opportunities are enormous.

7. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the Coalition? 
I encourage them to join the Coalition!