With Global Road Safety Week upon us, we speak to Kenneth Mulinde about how he is helping his community to lower their speed.
United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week (UNGRSW) is a biennial global road safety campaign occurring between 17 and 23 May.
It brings together individuals, governments, non-profit organisations, corporations, and other actors from around the world to raise awareness of road safety and make changes that will reduce the number of road deaths.
“Streets for Life” is the slogan chosen for this year’s campaign, highlighting that low-speed streets save lives and are the heart of any community.
It calls on policymakers to act for low-speed streets worldwide, limiting speeds to 30 km/h (20 mph) where people walk, live, and play.
30 km/h streets protect all who use them, but especially the most vulnerable, like pedestrians, cyclists, children, older people, and people with disabilities. Also, this speed is vital in efforts to shift to zero-carbon mobility.
To protect the environment, people need safe, low-speed streets that encourage sustainable transport choices.
Advocating for Safer Roads
Marking this worldwide event, Youth Time spoke to Youth Arts Movement Uganda (YAMU), which among other important initiatives is also implementing a Road Safety Programme, for which we will learn more through this piece.
Creative Activism in Uganda: The Motivating Journey of YAMU’s Kenneth Mulinde
YAMU adopted a road safety program, following their participation the in second World Youth Assembly For Road Safety, that was held in Stockholm-Sweden on 18th February 2020, hosted by Youth for Road Safety (YOURS).
To date, many of YAMU’s members subscribe to the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, under whose patronage young people from across the world are taking actions on safe mobility issues and championing meaningful youth participation in road safety decision-making spaces, sustainable development goals, and beyond.
The coalition also offers resources, skills, partnerships, and opportunities for youth to take their ideas to the next level and maximise their impact through local actions.
“Our work here is to advocate for liveable streets for all, especially for the vulnerable road users including, children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
“We have supported the crafting and dissemination of the #Love30 campaign materials including the infographic photography and campaign videos,” says Kenneth Mulinde, Executive Director, YAMU.
Kenyan Illustrator Educates People on Road Safety through a Board Game
He further states that YAMU is fully taking part in the sixth UN Road Safety week campaign on #Streetsforlife and #Love30, with support from the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.
They are saying enough is enough to roads that kill our dreams, we demand roads that facilitate our access to all lifelong opportunities including schools, work, and healthcare.
“We believe that global and local action is needed to make the world’s roads safer for everyone.
“We connect it to key related topics such as health, sustainable cities, climate change, education, poverty, and equality,” he adds.
Safe Ride – #BeRoadSmartUG
Safe Ride is a local Actions-winning project that aims to create awareness on the urgency of road safety for women and girls, by positioning a feminist road safety strategy that fronts women’s rights and their participation in the decision-making process in Kampala, Uganda by March 2022.
“We hope to use Artivism as a mobilising vehicle to grow a generation of youth determined to build supportive environments that respond to girls and women’s safety on the roads,” Mulinde explains.
“The programme will help realise the need to observe road safety measures in a feminist perspective and advocate with decision-makers to increase and facilitate rapid reporting, prosecution, protection of victims and intentional systems change that makes traveling for women and girls safe and free from any form of prejudice,” he elaborates.
This project and all its intended activities have been made possible through the mentorship, training, and financial support from the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety and Youth For Road Safety-YOURS.
Join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety at: https://claimingourspace.org.
Join the Celebration
How do we together build #StreetsforLife?
Let us check out this new World Health Organization (WHO) infographic which offers five actions to manage speed!
- Build or modify roads to include features that calm traffic
- Establish speed limit appropriate to the function of each road
- Enforce speed limits
- Install in-vehicle technologies
- Raise awareness about the dangerous of speeding
As UNGRSW Facebook Page notifies us, there will be several events taking place during the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week!
To make it easier, we compiled a list of a few global events so you can register and take part in celebrating the UN Week and learning all about how 30 km/h speed limits make #StreetsforLife.
Find the events HERE.
Want to hear more from Kenneth Mulinde? We profiled his work earlier on this year.
Creative Activism in Uganda: The Motivating Journey of YAMU’s Kenneth Mulinde
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