Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Minh Vo

1. How did you first get involved in road safety? 
I first got involved in road safety in early 2018 when I worked as an intern for AIP Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing road-related injuries and fatalities globally. This experience helped me develop a foundational understanding of the road safety sector.

2. How long have you been working in the road safety field? 
After finishing the internship and graduating in mid-2018, AIP Foundation hired me as a Program Assistant for the road safety programs in Vietnam. The field experience I gained from this role – including working with community members impacted by road tragedies – emboldened me to pursue opportunities to become a more effective road safety advocate.  

3. Tell us about the work you’re doing now? 
I currently serve as Junior Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator for AIP Foundation. Through this, I support the research projects, data collection, and analysis efforts of programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, China, and India.  We aim to contribute to the evidence base for best practices in road traffic injury prevention and commit to ensuring that our programs are data-driven.

We use a range of monitoring and evaluation techniques to collect information to improve our programs and to prove their effectiveness. I also joined the Youth Star Programme which aims to build a network of individual youth and organizations to empower them to assess their school road environments and spur discussions on how to reduce road crashes at their schools. 

4. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety? 
It was my pleasure to be a participant of the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety where I could feel the passion and energy for road safety of talented young people from around the world. I joined the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety to engage with peers to take actions on road safety issues. I believe this is one of the most prestigious global coalitions of young road safety advocates so being a member of the Coalition will be my pride and motivation for my work. There is a proverb that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. I want to go far and are ready for the journey with other members of the Coalition to make the world’s roads safe for everyone. 

5. What are your comments on the Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities? Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety is a great platform for young people from across the world to share passion and take action on safe mobility issues. The Coalition presents an opportunity for youth to not only share knowledge but to also elevate their voices as the next generation of leaders of their home countries. It is critical that youth perspectives are meaningfully considered, not only as a motivating factor to empower youth, but as these perspectives can challenge convention and represent new ways of thinking.    

6. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the coalition? 
There is nothing more encouraging and meaningful than us - youth of the world taking the lead in fighting the biggest killer of our generation - road crashes. Let's join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety to be a part of a pioneer movement of young people and keep #ClaimingOurSpace.