NYC to focus on road safety during youth week

WINDHOEK, 19 APR – The National Youth Council (NYC) will this year focus on advocacy for the plight of the youth and unsafe road use in Namibia during the 11th National Youth Week that was launched here on Wednesday.
The National Youth Week, launched under the theme ‘Youth and unsafe road use in Namibia’ by the Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service, Erastus Uutoni, aims to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution of young people to national development and to highlight the challenges, hopes and aspirations of the youth of Namibia.
The first National Youth Week took place in 2007 and in 2009, the government declared 27 April National Youth Day.
This year, National Youth Week will be held in Okahandja from 27 to 30 April 2018.
Uutoni explained that this year’s theme focuses on reducing road accidents and fatalities on the road among young people by creating awareness through means of campaigns.
He said the increase in accidents in the country has become a serious concern to the government.
“Road accidents in Namibia take away the lives of our young people, robbing many families of their breadwinners and robbing the nation of young people who could have contributed their quota to the development of the country,” Uutoni stressed.
He indicated that this year, they have developed key road safety messages around some risk factors associated with the youth, which include speeding, alcohol use, the importance of seat belt use and the use of mobile devices while driving.
These messages will be the focus of their activities during the campaign that will be intensified during the National Youth Week and will run until 27 April 2019.
Uutoni expressed concern regarding the high number of deaths recorded between the years 2011 to 2016 in Namibia due to road crashes, saying they are shocking.
An average of 647 road deaths were recorded annually and the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund’s data shows that most fatalities recorded are mostly of young road users between the ages of 20 to 35 years.
The minister urged the youth and the rest of the public to pull resources together to reduce accidents and fatalities.
He further thanked the National Road Safety Council, MVA Fund, Roads Authority, the Namibian Police Force and traffic control department for rendering their assistance financially and technically towards this cause.
NAMPA