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| 'Gender and transport' has begun to feature internationally
as a
recognised issue in transport policy and planning. Similarly, transport
has begun to feature on the agenda of gender policy and planning. At
major international transport meetings, gender and transport are now on
the agenda: within the World
Bank, a gender and transport thematic group has been set up
which operates between the 'gender' and 'transport' domains of the World
Bank. Much of the interest in this gender and transport issue has been
fuelled by the writings and operational experiences of Africans and
those working on Africa. Currently, the International Forum for Rural
Transport and Development is in the process of co-ordinating nineteen
small projects on gender issues in rural transport in Africa with
support from the Department
for International Development (UK). In no other context are gender and transport patterns so visible or so pressing as they are in Africa. For those of us who are African, who have worked in Africa or have taken the time to study carefully such African data as exists, the differences in male and female transport patterns are all too clear. Women's role in carrying the transport burden of rural Africa, often unaided by even the simplest of technologies, is great as compared to that of her brother and takes place at considerable consequences to her health and to economic efficiency. The World Bank Rural Travel and Transport Programme pamphlet puts the argument quite simply: Rural Africa walks and carries its burden. And most of this burden falls on women.' The cost of women carrying Africa's rural transport burden is felt very clearly in the absence of girls from the schoolroom: a loss which is viewed by leading economists as of great consequence for the economic development of Africa. Similarly, women's transport burden in Africa has negative consequence for the realisation of their full productivity in the agricultural sector: once again the relationship between gender and agriculture in Africa has very marked differences to the other regions of the world and the meeting of women's transport needs has great consequences for this sector. Finally, the health costs of women's restricted access to transport are great: consider the consequences of head loads on the spine and the health complications this introduces. Similarly, women's comparatively restricted mobility as compared with men disables them in gaining access to contraceptives, health knowledge and health services. http://www.geocities.com/transport_research/genintro.htm |
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