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COVID-19 and Women in Transport Webinar Summary Note

Overview

The impact of social distancing policies on the transport sector in low-income countries presents different challenges to those faced in developed economies; the differences in impact of such policies on men and women is also challenging. As economies close in response to COVID-19, women face significant risks to their health and livelihoods. In the transport sector, where women are already significantly under-represented, they face precarious and vulnerable employment situations that any COVID-19-related economic crisis will accentuate, in a differentiated way to that facing men in the sector.
Any post-COVID-19 response must recognise these gender differences, involve both men and women in its development and be equitable and inclusive in its impact. This webinar draws on current experiences from experts around the world working in this field and will draw together thoughts on key issues and useful initiatives in place or planned to address them.


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HVT/ PIARC WEBINAR – SUMMARY NOTE S The Impact of COVID -19 on Women in Transport in Low -Income Countries 15 th May 2020 Topic The impact of social distancing policies on the transport sector in low -income countries presents different challenges to those faced in developed economies ; the differences in impact of such policies on men and women is also challenging. As economies close in response to COVID -19, women face significant risks to their health and livelihoods. In the transport sector, where women are already significantly under -represented, they face precarious and vulnerable employment situations that any COVID -19 -related economic crisis will accentuate, in a differentiated way to that facing men in the sector. Any post -COVID -19 response must recognise these gender differences, involve both men and women in its development and be equitable and inclusive in its impact. This webinar draws on current experiences from experts around the world working in this field and will draw together thoughts on key issues and useful initiatives in place or planned to address them. Summary Jeff Turner , M oderator It is clear that we may have to consider that the effect of COVID -19 on the transport sector may last considerably longer than we first imagine d. In the UK , the Transport Minister suggest s that it is citizen ’s “civic duty ” to avoid using public transport as the “stay at home ” measures are eased , in order to maintain physical distancing and reduce resurgence of the virus. This message and the impact on attitudes to using public transport may have negative consequences for a long time. As a result, we need to look at economic measures to support workers and operators providing public transport services, in order that there are publ ic transport services to come back to. Prof . Gina Porter highlighted the very serious negative impact that loss of income from restrictions on public transport operations is having on households and workers across the whole of the informal sector , including those engaged in informal trading as part of the urban food supply and those working in transport. Whilst many low -income countries are providing food aid to the most vulnerable, a substantial percentage of women make their livelihoods in the informal sector, and they are not being served by such emergency aid. Consideration needs to be given to the design and delivery of financial social protection measures for these large percentages of the population, so that t he ir livelihoods can be maintained , and they can continue to be users or workers in the transport system. The example from Naomi Mwaura at Flone Initiative of the innovative pilot they are implementing providing cash transfers to women transport workers engaged in the informal transport sector highlights the need for experiments, at least, that could be developed to move forward in this direction. The evidence from Dr Fatima Adamu , of the efforts by government agencies, at enforcing regulations and developing some formalisation of the informal transport operators in Nigeria pointed to an interesting future direction. She reported that authorities were developing an interest in doing something that they historically been uninterested in, i.e. maintaining some for m of order by policing urban public transport. She also reported that such enforcement was seen to enhance women’s perception of safety of the system. Maybe this points to a positive direction for a future where the re may be greater efforts and engagement w ith formalising informal public transport in many low -income countries. This could provide substantial benefits to all users, especially women, by improving perceptions of safety and quality and by rebuilding confidence in public transport. Finally, Anna W ildt -Persson and Christos Xenophontos highlighted the need to think about who is developing and implementing any future direction. They highlighted the importance of transport institutions that will be at the forefront of the recovery phase, and their need to incorporate gender mainstreaming in their practice. Women and men need to be equally involved in the development of the future. Claire Clarke reference d ILO Resolution 205, which called on all agencies across the wo rld, when responding to an emergency and its recovery, to ensure that planning and implementation include s: • Gender -disaggregated data ; • Gender impact assessments ; • Gender -responsive planning ; • Representation in decision -making ; • Existing women’s righ ts reinforced ; and • Unions included as key stakeholders . This may be a reasonable objective to focus on, in order to develop a more inclusive and gender - equitable transport system for the future. Ot her q ues tions ari sing for consideration/ research : Can we use space offered by post -COVID recovery as an opportunity to formalise employment in passenger transport ? What would formalisation mean for achieving gender equality, overcoming gender occupational segregation , and increasing the number of women employed ? Are there any specific strategies for job creation within the transport sector with a gender perspective? Making transport gender neutral needs to be addressed through the design rather than being an afterthought. Will COVID -19 continue to impact the behaviour of both passengers and transport operators post - COVID , or is it pos sible that such behaviour will slow or cease once COVID is past ? What can be done to seize this opportunity to make changes to stop the slip back to the ‘business as usual’ approach ? Are there any parallels, lessons and solutions to draw on from past experiences deal ing with HIV, Zika, Ebola? Some Latin American cities (Colombia, Pa namá) have put gender segregation measures in place, such as assigning specific days when men can go out for essential activities, and days when women can go out (i.e. on odd -numbered days, men can leave the house to seek out essentials, on even - numbered d ays, it’s the women’s turn ). It would be interesting to study the risks and results of such measures.