Accessible and sustainable transport systems in African cities for all: Filling in the data gap

Achieving the target of sustainability in urban transport systems also means considering the needs of different users and thereby offering equal levels of accessibility to transport to all different groups. The need to adopt a gender-sensitive perspective is emerging as a challenging and impending task for urban transport policymakers and planners everywhere in the world. Transport systems in Africa are often falling behind rapid urbanisation, which creates constraints for women navigating the city to access services and opportunities. The gender imbalance emerging from current patterns and trends reveals the existence of a disparity. Tailoring mobility services to address the needs of different genders is hindered by a scarcity of gender mobility data and statistics. The co-hosted OECD/GIZ side event examines emerging gender-sensitive methodologies to data collection and discusses its integration into decision-making for equitable sustainable transport systems in rapidly urbanising cities in Africa.

Side event Programme: (25^th May, Hall 5)

16h30 – 17h:   The side-event will kick-off with two brief presentations by the GIZ and OECD/SWAC on recent methodologies to collect gender-sensitive data in African cities.

• Decoding women’s transport experiences (Ariadne Baskin - Sustainable Mobility Project Manager at GIZ (7 – 10 minutes)
• An accessibility-based approach to gender-sensitive data collection and its links to low-carbon transport in Accra and Kumasi (Brilé Anderson – Environmental Economist at OECD/SWAC) (7 – 10 minutes)
• 10 minutes Q+A

17h – 17h45    Panel discussion (To be confirmed – maximum 4 participants, with one moderator) on how to integrate gender-sensitive data into decision-making across government and adapt transport systems to be resilient and equitable amid rapid urbanisation.

• Astrid R. N. Haas, Urban Economist
• Naomi Mwaura, Founder of the Flone Initiative
• Amanda Ngabirano, Chairperson of the National Physical Planning Board Uganda
• Luc Gnacadja, Founder & President of the Think-and-do-tank GPS-Dev. (Governance & Policies for Sust Dev), Past UNCCD Executive Secretary, Former Benin Minister of Environment

17h45-18h       Open Q+A discussion with panellists