Gender Participation in Rural Traffic Projects

 

The workshop was part of the programme Improving Gender Capability for Rural Transport Projects, including experience exchange visits, technical assistance to participants, and a forum for representatives of rural transport projects to discuss the most effective approaches to the issue. Recognising that the targets in rural transport development can be achieved through cooperation and joint efforts, the workshop invited technical experts from areas such as social and transportation, institutional and national policies on gender, as well as project managers at all levels.

 

The objective of the programme is to improve the capability of regional state agencies in finding meaningful solutions to problems of gender inequality in transport projects by studying experiences and examples from successful projects in the region and beyond. The programme aims to help participating countries set out an action plan based on relevant experiences from other transport projects and make necessary adjustment to suit their specific conditions as well as to stay in line with the development objectives of each project. The equal participation of both genders in transport is an important factor to ensure equality and affordability of the sector, to ensure access to resources as well as opportunities for growth and poverty reduction.

 

The World Bank supports mutual learning through professional comments so that countries could exchange, replicate and leverage development experiences. The workshop discussed the feasibility as well as the most effective ways to promote gender participation in the design of rural road projects; to institutionalize road maintenance and reduce poverty effectively, as well as how to recognise and regard gender issues in road safety.

 

The participants also discussed examples from a number of projects in Vietnam, Laos, China, Nepal, India and the Solomon Islands to understand the necessity of equal gender participation in project design as well as to establish the most effective implementation methods, to study specific experiences of turning road maintenance operations into female friendly activities and an sustainable poverty reduction tool, to discuss the issues of safety and security, as well as different impact of these issues on men and women.

 

On this occasion, the delegates visited Lao Cai province to study the pilot programme of engaging female groups in road maintenance activities in four sub-regions of Bac Ha District, which focused on village and commune roads.