Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Nuria Jasira Diaz Valer

1. Where are you connected right now? Tell us about the work you're doing.
I'm currently working in the Municipality of Miraflores which is a local municipality with high income. It’s the second most visited in Peru after Machu Picchu. It's a cosmopolitan district where people want to feel safe as in their home countries.

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 was interested in the mobility field for some time. I’ve seen people struggle with something as basic as going around to study or work. I have a bachelor's degree in Economic Engineering but I pursued the field of transportation by enrolling for a Master’s in Transportation Sciences in UHasselt - Belgium as a scholar with the VLIR-UOS scholarship. This happened from 2018- 2020. I had a specialization in Road Safety for Developing Countries.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about the road safety and sustainable mobility situation in your area? 
As a country, there are different levels of involvement. The national level is still struggling to have an appropriate road safety agency. This is because of the political problems of ministers and presidents who have changed many times during the last few years. At the local level, it will depend on the interest of the people and their tolerance to the mobility risk. With local districts having problems with the pandemic and security, there is little room to address, even talk about road safety in highly populated districts. Therefore it is necessary to take action and to call for on national government to take measures that can help decision-makers address the road safety crisis. 

4. Why do you think it's important to include young people in local and global road safety efforts? 
It is important because we are the future of mobility. We need to learn more about the change in the paradigm of transportation and the change in the paradigm of road safety and sustainability. We cannot wait for it to be too late - small actions and research help make better and bigger decisions in the future.

5. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety? 
For me, it was important to join the Youth Coalition to make a positive impact and learn how to transmit the knowledge that I acquired not only in my studies but also in working in the field. I am also learning how to better educate decision-makers on the new transportation realities that we are facing.

6. What are your comments on the Youth Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities? 
I think that the Youth Coalition is showing that youth is not equal to inexperience, it is not equal to not knowing what we are doing. The Youth Coalition shows that road safety solutions can be implemented and applied in the overall design of the city. We should not wait for crashes to occur - safety is something achievable from the start.

7. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the Youth Coalition?
There is always room for learning and sharing. Let's bring all the tools for change to the Coalition!!!