On 2 June 2026, the second 2026 installment of the Road Safety Capacity-Building Program webinar series was launched. Titled “Protecting Lives: Children, Youth, and Vulnerable Road Users within the Safe System”, the series is co-presented by the Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with The George Institute for Global Health and the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program.

The webinar series is supported by a grant from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan through the ADB.

Over 60 participants joined the session, moderated by Blaise Murphet, Director at BM Limited and opened by Sushil Babu Dhakal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Nepal, and Chairperson of the APRSO Steering Committee.

In her welcome remarks, Priti Gautam, Senior Transport Specialist and road safety lead at ADB, emphasized the need to prioritize the safety of the most vulnerable road users through safer mobility systems, highlighting how road safety is closely linked to access to education, employment, and community life across Asia and the Pacific.

Prasanthi Attwood, Senior Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, underscored the need for “child-adapted” Safe Systems that reflect how risk evolves across different stages of life and respond to children’s developmental needs.

Geetam Tiwari, Emeritus Professor at the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre, built on this by bringing a regional perspective and sharing a compelling example from South Delhi, where schoolchildren worked alongside planners to co-design safer streets around their schools.

Raquel Barrios of YOURS closed the session by highlighting that young people are not only beneficiaries of safer transport systems, but also active contributors within the institutions shaping them—reinforcing the importance of engaging them across sectors to drive more effective and lasting change.

The webinar series will continue with its next session scheduled for 16 June 2026. Read more about the upcoming sessions here.