Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Syed Yaseen Afshad

1. Where are you connected right now? Tell us about the work you're doing?
I am based in Qatar. I am working as a Transportation and Road Safety Engineer. I undertake projects in traffic engineering and road safety engineering on different scales across the State of Qatar. I am the lead Traffic Engineer working very closely with the main stakeholders and the authorities in the country. I have nearly 5 years of very sound technical experience in transportation engineering and road safety engineering. I am on my way to being an accredited iRAP user for Surveying, Coding, Analysing, and reporting. 

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 have been very passionate about road safety since my university days and I always wanted to create a positive impact on society with the help of my knowledge and expertise. This brought me to the position of road safety auditor in my current workplace and I have been actively taking part in the different road safety across the country since. I am very happy and pleased to see my recommendations and mitigations being adopted by the state and the projects I helped build being implemented.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about the road safety and sustainable mobility situation in your area? 
We have a good road safety authority here in Qatar and the vision of which has always been to be sustainable and efficient when it comes to road safety within the region. We do out best to ensure that the transportation facilities designed in Qatar are sustainable to the environment and to the road users. 

4. Why do you think it's important to include young people in local and global road safety efforts? 
I believe that the young people are the ones who are more familiar with the risks involved in road collisions or accidents. The younger generation tends to commit the same mistakes and errors which might result in serious injuries or fatalities. And hence, having a team of young enthusiastic minds in road safety efforts will surely help to eradicate or mitigate the issue of road crashes to a higher extent. 

5. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety? 
I have always been passionate about road safety and giving back to society. Since I have had the privilege of studying and understanding various aspects of road safety at a basic level, I consider myself entitled to join hands with people who are working to implement a similar vision. Unity is strength and sharing is caring. It is very important that like minded people join hands and fight road safety challenges.  

6. What are your comments on the Youth Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities? 
I think the activities of the Youth Coalition are very dynamic. I love the way it operates. I am looking forward to being physically involved in activities in the coming days. 

7. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the Youth Coalition? 
I suggest all people, irrespective of their previous knowledge or experience in road safety, join the Global Youth Coalition. Being a member of this Youth Coalition will surely boost your awareness of road safety issues and the steps that can be taken at every level to help prevent road crashes of all kinds. The knowledge gained by an individual will be spread or passed on to others. Creating awareness among different parts of society will obviously help reduce roadside deaths and injuries, thereby making roads safer for all road users.