Pri's blog

Given that it is International Women’s Day, it is probably a good time to reflect on how the transport sector does (or does not) engage with women’s transport needs.  Of course this is not a new subject,  but despite efforts by several women and men, notably in the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD), the World Bank’s SSATP, and other networks interested in bringing some equity into the transport sector, the problem still remains.   Women’s issues, and particularly the issues of  poor urban and rural women,  remain marginal to transport sector planning.  It is not to say that the sector has not progressed.  When, as  the IFRTD’s first Executive Secretary, I presented the Balancing the Load proposal to what was then DFID’s Knowledge and Research (KAR) funding arm in 1996,  I am told the (male) engineers reviewing the proposals laughed at our audacity and dismissed the proposal with hardly a glance. Balanc...

Some of the outcomes of a panel discussion on the subject that I facilitated at the Asian Transport Forum at the Asian Development Bank in Manila on the 11th September, interspersed with some thoughts of my own... What is inclusive transport? The World Bank discusses the issues relating to inclusive transport as " the availability of transport services for the poor, women, persons with disability and the elderly has emerged as an important issue in the context of a number of transport policies. It requires the removal of institutional and physical barriers and the enhancement of incentives to increase the accessibility of diverse individuals and groups to transport opportunities" (see : http://go.worldbank.org/61NANCE7X0) The ADB looks at the need to pay special attention to mobility and accessibility especially of low-income households as differentiated by their gender, age and ability. They aim to ensure equitable and affordable transport and ensure access to the ...