ΝΕΑ από την Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety

Η ΕΥΘΥΤΑ ΡΟΔΟΥ, είναι ενεργό μέλος της WHAT'S NEXT FOR NGOs DURING COVID-19 Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alliance has been working with our member NGOs to monitor the road safety response and how NGOs are adapting. The picture has certainly evolved over the past three months. Following initial shock and worries, most are now working around lockdowns and curfews and a few have been able to return to business as (some kind of) normal. As an Alliance community, we have discussed common issues at online “Coffee Breaks,” taken inspiration from discussions between experts outside the usual road safety sphere at the Alliance Live Sessions, and shared useful resources. Read more HERE. The biggest challenge that Alliance NGOs are facing globally has been how to push forward the road safety agenda when all attention is focused, quite understandably, on COVID-19. In particular, they have been concerned that the momentum gained in February by the Stockholm Declaration could be lost. NGOs know that new energy is needed to bring road safety back to the attention of leaders and communities. But when and how can this be achieved, and what messages will our leaders and communities be receptive to at this time? Alliance members discussed these issues on the most recent Coffee Break calls. Read about what was discussed and the different situations that NGOs are facing HERE.

ALLIANCE NEWS: NEW WEBSITE This month, the Alliance has launched its new website HERE. On it, you can find resources, stories, and information about the Alliance and its member NGOs. We hope that you enjoy our new format and navigation. We will be adding new initiatives and posts regularly, so keep checking in! ENVIRONMENT, EMISSIONS, ROAD SAFETY AND COVID-19 Use the ‘avoid, shift, improve’ framework, was one of the key messages from panelists to road safety NGOs at the Alliance Live Session Environment, Emissions, Road Safety, and COVID-19. Facilitated by Natalie Draisin, FIA Foundation, it featured Maruxa Cardama, Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT); Carly Gilbert-Patrick, UN Environment Programme (UNEP); and Holger Dalkmann, Sustain 2030 and Senior Advisor to the High Volume Transport (HVT) program and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The framework has a hierarchy, said Maruxa Cardama, with avoid being the most effective and desirable action. “We must be careful,” she said, “not just to look at improve.” AVOID long, unnecessary motorized journeys. “If you reduce the length of trips ... it reduces exposure to air pollution as well as the risk of a crash,” said Holger Dalkmann.  SHIFT to more active, zero-carbon modes of transport such as walking and cycling IMPROVE adaptations such as electric transport modes.  Panelists offered a number of solutions for NGOs seeking to link the road safety and environment agendas, and in particular, pointed to their ability to influence communities for behavior change and broker conversations across stakeholders, including different levels and departments of government. Read more and listen to the full recording HERE. IN ACTION: A SAFE, SUSTAINABLE CITY FOR CITIZENS “Rather than saying ‘How can we make links [between different SDGs/issues]?’ ask ‘who are we trying to help and what do they need to get that help?’ Then we can all do our bit,” said Carly Gilbert-Patrick at the Live Session on environment and emissions. Alliance member, Patiala Foundation, India, runs projects to make Patiala a safe, sustainable, liveable city for citizens. Road safety is one of the ways that they achieve this, with particular focus on the right to walk. Following up on comments from school children, the NGO noticed that sidewalks were being removed around the city in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion. Patiala Foundation used police and census data to prove to the local authorities that only 6% of citizens were using cars to go to work, with almost half (46%) walking or cycling. This led to a change of approach and the city, with help from Patiala Foundation and other stakeholders, is restoring the number of sidewalks. Read more HERE about Patiala Foundation’s right to walk project, as well as its GreenCAB scheme, which provides eco-friendly cycle rickshaws with seatbelts for drivers to start their own sustainable, regulated cycle-taxi businesses.  GENDER AND MOBILITY “The street or a road or a public transport vehicle is not just a way to get from A to B,” said Naomi Mwaura, Flone Initiative, at the Live Session on gender and mobility. “It is a stage where human interactions occur and interactions can be positive or negative. For most women and girls, these interactions are negative.” The panel, which also included Marie-Axelle Granié, Université Gustave Eiffel, and Wouter Stes, Plan International Belgium, facilitated by Eric Remacle, pointed to evidence that women experience significant disadvantages in mobility. 91% of girls surveyed as part of Plan International’s Safer Cities program in Belgium had experienced sexual harassment in public places, versus 28% of boys. Only 6% of victims file complaints, the same report found. There is a need, Wouter Stes argued, to lower the barriers to reporting harassment and increase perpetrators’ understanding. Only 7% of public transport workers in Kenya are women according to Flone Initiative figures. Women are less likely to have a private vehicle, said Marie-Axelle Granié. Consequently, they walk more, carrying heavier loads, and are more dependent on public transport. They are less likely to use bicycles. Men are three times more likely to die in a road crash and many are the sole-breadwinner in their families. Women have a higher risk of lower-body injury, as their smaller bodies are not considered in vehicle design.   Read more and listen to the session HERE. IN ACTION: SAFER CYCLING FOR WOMEN IN ARGENTINA In Neuquén, Argentina, the municipality has introduced a new mobility action plan to address rapid growth in the city’s population and increasing congestion. It has introduced a new bicycle-sharing scheme and 30 kilometers of new bike paths and lanes. However, only 30% of those using the new infrastructure are women. Alliance member A.C.T.I.V.V.A.S. has been working with the authorities in Neuquén to make cycle infrastructure in the city safer and more accessible for women. In a roundtable organized by the NGO last year, the city committed to increasing the number of women on bicycles there to 50% and to implement a further 70 kilometers of cycle routes. A.C.T.I.V.V.A.S. has signed a cooperation agreement with the Road Observatory of the Universidad de Flores to monitor the commitment. Read more HERE. YOUTH ENGAGEMENT “Most decisions being made now affect young people’s futures more than the futures of those making the decisions," said Amelia Buchweitz Garcez, climate change activist with Fridays for Futures at the final Alliance Live Session on Youth, Leadership, and Issues that Matter: Engaging the Young Generation. Alongside her, were three other young leaders from different advocacy sectors, including, Ritu Jain, of gender-equality NGO Restless Development, Danish Mohammed, of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and Jacob Smith, of Alliance member YOURS. Drawing on their experiences in different fields, they discussed how to get youth motivated for road safety, ways that NGOs can engage young people in a more meaningful way, and the benefits of youth participation. “Channelizing youth,” explained Ritu Jain, “can create wonders.” The spirit of the Live Sessions was summed up by Danish Mohammed. “In the struggle for social justice, somewhere along the line, all of our different movements and issues merge into this one just world and the sooner we see the common goal, the sooner we start working together and the sooner we get there.” Read more and listen to the recording HERE. IN ACTION: #CLAIMINGOURSPACE At the opening ceremony of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference in Sweden in February, Omnia El Omrani delivered a message to government ministers and decision makers around the world on behalf of the members of the World Youth Assembly (WYA) taskforce and the thousands of young people from around the world who took part in youth consultations in the run up to the conference. Read about how Omnia El Omrani and members of the taskforce pushed youth engagement at the ministerial conference, how they have maximized momentum since then, and the upcoming launch of the Youth Coalition, which is the primary outcome of the WYA, HERE. ALLIANCE NEWS: ANNUAL REPORT Check out our Annual Report, launched this month, and relive the highlights of 2019. The report features the Global Meeting, #SpeakUp, #CommitToAct, the Safer Cycling Advocate Program, LEARN, and more, and includes lots of member photos and stories. Find it HERE.