Report of the workshop on:
6th TransNet
event
26.09.03, SDC, Bern -
Ausserholligen
*****
Terms
of references: See annex 0
Agenda: See annex 1
Participants: 22
TransNet members and invited guests (list of participants in annex
2)
Chair: Thomas Zeller (SoDev,
SDC)
Report: Roger Schmid / Jürg
Christen (Skat Consulting), Priyanthi Fernando (IFRTD)
(the report and all workshop documents are available on the attached CD)
Organizer: Skat Consulting
Host: Social Development
Division, SDC
*****
|
1.
|
Welcome and introduction of
participants
|
Thomas Zeller
|
Thomas Zeller, co-head of the
Social Development Division (SoDev) of SDC and responsible of the “Mobility
desk”, welcomed all the TransNet members and invited colleagues. Special thanks
were addressed to the resource persons from abroad:
·
Mrs Priyanthi Fernando (Executive Secretary of IFRTD,
London)
·
Mr. Robin Workman (Institutional Development Advisor,
FRISA-ITECO, DRSP Nepal)
·
Dr. Nitya Rao (Overseas Development Group, School of Development
Studies, Norwich)
·
Prof. Paul Starkey (Animal Traction Development, Reading)
for their coming
and their contribution to this thematically significant workshop. Thanks went
to the Skat Consulting team for conceiving and organizing this event.
In his introduction to the
meeting, Thomas Zeller explained the recent changes within SDC head-quarters
considering transport issues as he took over since begin 2003 the now called
“Mobility desk” (formerly “transport” desk) on a 50% occupational basis. He
acts as focal point for Mobility & Access issues within SDC and is helped
in this by Skat Consulting (thematic backstopping) and IFRTD (international
networking). Even if for SDC, M&A is an issue in few countries only, most
programs deal nevertheless indirectly with those aspects. His four major
expectations of the event were to:
·
gain a common set of ideas on the subject
·
gather indicators for future priorities of SDC within the sector
·
generate challenging and interesting debates / presentations on the
issues addressed
·
get more drive into the “TransNet” community of practice
After his introduction,
participants introduced themselves. There were 17 participants, including a few
who were attending a TransNet meeting for the first time, and several who are
working in a wider rural development context.
2.
|
Introduction and agenda of the
workshop
|
Roger Schmid
|
Roger Schmid took over the facilitation of the meeting by
giving a brief overview about the rationale of the workshop as well as the
various agenda points (annex 1). The objective of the day was “to gain a
common understanding of rural transport and mobility and its relevance in the
various social development
processes related to promoting gender equity, reducing poverty and empowering
poor people”. The
workshop would start with a general input about the state of the art of
mobility & access related to gender and poverty, followed by three thematic
inputs (case studies) from Nepal, India and Madagascar. Working groups would
then analyzed more thoroughly the issues risen where the participants look at
how these issues can be or have been addressed in their different spheres of
activity. During lunch the IFRTD publication “Balancing the load” would be
launched.
|
3.
|
“Mobility
& Access: State-of-the-art” – key note speech
|
Priyanthi
Fernando
|
Priyanthi Fernando started her presentation with
the question: “Is TRANSPORT a dirty word?” In the past, “Transport” programmes
were synonymous with large-scale infrastructure and motorised transport meant
to stimulate economic growth. But it has increasingly become obvious that only
few identifiable poverty alleviation benefits could be reached through this. It
was when looking at poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon that the shift in
the international development discourse from debates about transport systems to
discussions on mobility (= means of transport related to ease and frequency of
movement) and access (= infrastructure related to proximity and physical
connectivity) has occurred. The challenge of mobility & access is that:
·
transport professionals shift their conception from major road networks
and motorised transport used by a minority to aspects of local transport
solutions used by the majority
·
development professionals consider the role of M&A provision in
improving livelihoods of poor women, men and children
The presentation then took a general look at how
improving M&A contributes to the wider social development agenda (poverty
reduction and millennium development goals, gender equity, democratisation,
social justice). The importance of M&A was demonstrated through its impact
in:
·
improving access to (basic) services e.g. in relation with low density
areas, women’s health and quality of service provision
·
increasing economic opportunities (e.g. agricultural production and
marketing, labour intensive methods, provision of transport services)
·
reducing time poverty (increased time and labour availability of the
poor)
·
promoting democratisation (e.g. governance issues, participation in
decision making)
The presenter warned nevertheless, that firstly
improving M&A has its own downside like the spread of HIV/AIDS and reduced
safety – issues to be addressed seriously in any intervention and that secondly
that the poverty reduction agenda itself is being threatened by shifts in
global power structures like through the General Agreement on Trade and
Services (GATS) leaving out those without purchasing power (e.g. for transport
services). The presentation ended with some “voices of the poor” on M&A.
Documents available: State_of_the_art_1.pdf workshop paper
State_of_the_art_2.pdf workshop presentation
|
4.
|
Case
study Nepal: “Equitable community development through rural roads”
|
Robin Workman
|
The case
study is drawn from the District Roads Support Programme (DRSP), an SDC funded
long-term programme (12 – 15 years) designed to support decentralisation
through capacity building (to maintain, rehabilitate and construct district
roads) and labour-based road works in 6 districts of Nepal. The programme is
implemented with a focus upon gender equity, poverty alleviation and
empower-ment of the local people.
Since 1998,
the Gov. of Nepal introduced a planning process, which involves the districts
producing a District Transport Master Plan (DTMP) before they can claim any
budget. In DRSP, the DTMP is based upon a participatory bottom-up approach from
the very beginning of the process. Social mobilisation aims at
maximising community participation in road works and is based on:
·
work being primarily implemented through district-based organisations
·
employment that is aimed at the poorest sections of the society
·
equal wages for equal work
·
women participating in all committees, users and constructions group
·
transparency in the planning and execution of all works
Next to
social mobilisation (on the road), DRSP facilitates social interventions
(beyond the road) aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of the
communities within the road corridor being worked upon. They are implemented
through local facilitators and district-based NGO’s and cover:
|
Income generating interventions:
|
Non-income generating interventions:
|
|
-
Savings
& credits, micro credit and
revolving funds
|
-
Basic
health and hygiene campaigns (incl. sanitation, AIDS, family planning,
nutrition)
|
|
-
Village
level handicrafts
|
-
Functional
adult literacy classes
|
|
-
Passing on
the gift (livestock)
|
-
Village
reading centres
|
|
-
Horticulture
(off-season)
|
-
Non-formal
education
|
|
-
Skill
development training
|
-
Household
water systems / biogas production
|
The
challenges the social interventions have to address are mainly to enhance
women’s status within the society and to ensure that the poorest people are
able to benefit– in a sustainable manner. Also DRSP is in its 4th
year of implementation only, some lessons learned so far are that:
·
Effective social mobilisation is essential for the success of
institutional strengthening
·
To achieve sustainability in the Nepal context, it is essential to
involve women and the poor
·
Equitable community development is possible through rural roads, but it
is not easy
·
Gender balance will take a long time to make sustainable
·
Empowerment of the local community can be achieved through participatory
planning process
Documents available: Nepal_1.pdf workshop paper
Nepal_2.pdf workshop presentation
Story.pdf story
from the DRSP having won a price from the SDC - Award ‘Stories about
Sustainability’
|
5.
|
Case
study India: “Mobility – its transformative potential
|
Nitya Rao
|
The
presentation of Nitya Rao started with the statement that the importance of
physical access is undeniable in improving the quality of life, especially of
the rural poor. In fact this is clearly visible in development indicators such
as educational and health status in well-connected and remote regions. An
example of differing education provision between a better-maintained school in
a plains village close to district headquarter and a remote and ramshackle
school in a forest village of India was given.
The
presenter focussed then on the social and cultural dimensions of space and
mobility. The public sphere of politics, markets and rituals is primarily a
male space, while the private sphere of the household is seen as a female
space. Yet as long as public space is socially and culturally perceived as male
space, there are restrictions on female mobility. Mobility then has the
potential to transform gender relations. What is required is to address
gendered local mobility needs as a priority through:
·
Improving access for local journeys – both in terms of paths and small
modes of transport
·
Reducing transport burdens by ensuring provision of essential services
close to homes
·
Supporting those without infrastructure to engage more equally in the
markets
In
Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, selected for a literacy campaign, a
component in terms of mobility was added to the programme materialized in a
cycling campaign. The rational was that:
·
Increasing mobility helps women address some of their major transport
needs, making the performance of daily domestic tasks more efficient, thus
saving time and enhancing leisure
·
The self-confidence gained from learning a skill such as cycling would
motivate women to learn other skills– if they could learn cycling, then reading
and writing too were not impossible
·
It would enhance the sense of self-esteem and self-worth amongst women
by enabling them to play socially useful roles and thus with time help to
transform the unequal gender relations
While
women’s workloads may not have declined and neither is there a more equitable
sharing between men and women of household tasks, the women in Pudukkottai
stressed the usefulness of cycling for improving the efficiency of their work
and reducing the time taken to complete their tasks. Cycling has become an
efficient, cheap and easy way of meeting their daily transport needs, which are
related to household or social tasks and cannot be met by public transport.
More than the change in gender roles and responsibilities, there seems to have
been a change in social status and esteem for women, recognition as members of
the community that has led more equitable gender relations.
The
presenter mentioned finally an ongoing project for preparing an atlas of
gendered access and mobility responding to the felt need for access of decision-makers
to this kind of information in order to support contextualised interventions.
The atlas is aimed at being a:
·
Tool for planners and decision-makers for both planning and monitoring
interventions
·
Reference for NGOs and academics for further action and research
·
Resource to nuance the understanding of infrastructure and service
provisioning
Documents available: India_1.pdf workshop paper
India_2.pdf workshop presentation
|
6.
|
Case
study Madagascar: “Promoting intermediate means of transport for the rural
poor”
|
Paul Starkey
|
According to
Paul Starkey, efficient rural transport systems require complementary
infrastructure, motorised vehicles, intermediate means of transport (IMT),
boats, railways and an air network. Promotion of IMT is essential because:
·
Means of transport are as important as infrastructure
·
Without transport there is little output despite much effort
·
Efficient transport increases household productivity, stimulates
agricultural production and increases access to markets
·
Poverty reduction implies less isolation and greater access to services,
markets, etc.
·
Diverse and affordable intermediate transport solutions are available
Most
transport technologies have spread through small private sector initiatives.
Some public sector campaigns have been successful, but others have had
negligible impact. Therefore, to stimulate adoption, many small local
participative initiatives may be more appropriate than one large-scale project.
In rural areas, vicious circles of scarce transport, insufficient users and
inadequate support services hinder development. A “critical mass” of users,
operators and suppliers is needed as:
·
Transport (motorised and non-motorised) requires supporting infrastructure
for manufacture, supply and repair, and ‘social support’ may also be needed
·
Transport markets do not develop without a good support <->
support services do not develop without a good transport market
·
Once the critical mass exists, the technology may expand rapidly
In
Madagascar, as elsewhere, transport investment has been biased towards
infrastructure. As part of an integrated rural transport strategy, an
investment programme, supported by the World Bank, includes a component
specifically designed to enhance the use of IMTs in Madagascar. Investment
proposals and an innovative networking methodology were developed through a
three-year participatory process. The five-year programme started in 2003 and
includes a component that aims to enhance rural mobility by increasing the
number of IMTs, diversifying their uses and improving their quality. Four main
transport types will be promoted: cycle-based technologies, animal-powered
carts, human-powered carts and water-based transport.
Increasing
IMT requires many, small, coordinated, decentralised, user-orientated,
participatory initiatives. These involve local promotion, pilot introductions,
action-research, enhancing credit availability and developing a ‘critical mass’
of technologies in numerous different locations. Autonomous NGOs and private
sector partners, linked through a network, are implementing these
‘micro-projects’. A national network, known as MITA, has been formed to start
the collaborative processes. Supply issues are addressed involving artisans,
local associations and operators. Knowledge, capacity and expertise are built
up and relevant legislation and policies are reviewed. Practical problems
encountered mainly the government’s willingness and ability to delegate
responsibilities to the network, poor quality of the products paired with lack
of repair services as well as the to high cost for poor people, resulting all
together in a difficulty to create a critical mass.
Some
methodological principles for sustainable promotion of IMTs can be formulated
as:
|
· Build on the lessons of
previous initiatives
· Define needs and propose
alternative options
· Consider gender, culture,
local economic, environmental and infrastructural conditions
·
Monitor and evaluate
and improve (constructive criticism)
|
· Include all stakeholders
· Ensure availability &
maintenance capacity
· Concentrate resources to
create a critical mass
· Ensure that suitable
credit is available
·
Collaborate and share
information
|
Documents available: Madagascar_1.pdf workshop paper
Madagascar_2.pdf workshop presentation
Local_transport_solutions.pdf publication: Local Transport Solutions for
Rural Development (Paul Starkey)
|
7.
|
Launch
of the publication “Balancing the load”
|
Priyanthi
Fernando
|
The time
during lunch was taken as occasion to launch the book entitled “Balancing the load – women,
gender and transport” (2002)
edited by Priyanthi Fernando (IFRTD) and Gina Porter (University of Durham).
Additional people from the Social Development Division of SDC attended the
launching event, so did Dora Rapold, head of the Department of Thematic &
Technical Resources of SDC.
The book draws together local level research from 15
countries across Asia and Africa, to help understand how gender affects men and
women’s access to transport, and what steps can be taken at community, provider
and policy levels to improve the situation. It presents fascinating information
about different forms of rural transport in diverse settings; the social roles
transport plays; the uneven gender-influenced access to it; and the impacts
poverty, culture and gender-insensitive provision have on women’s lives in
relation to transport.
Rather than
talk about the content, Priyanthi Fernando in her speech drew the attention to
HOW the book came to be. The framework for the publication was the “Balancing
the load programme” initiated by IFRTD in 1996 with the aim of filling in the
gaps in our knowledge about how gender relations affect women and men’s access
to goods and services and influences the provision of transport infrastructure
and services. IFRTD chose to implement the programme using a networked
research methodology that would maximise the participation of men and women
working with rural communities, that would establish a dialogue between those
working on gender issues and those working on rural transport and create
opportunities for networking among them.
The programme carried out 40 case studies in Asia and
Africa and shared the findings with a wider audience through regional and
international seminars and through the publication of the full case studies in
the book. IFRTD pioneered a networking research methodology for the programme
with the aim of encouraging awareness and ownership of the issues among the
researchers, ensuring that a range of stakeholders were committed to their
resolution and dissemination of the results.
Priyanthi Fernando handed over officially an example
of the book to Dora Rapold. Dora Rapold welcomed the initiative for this
publication, which actually fills an important knowledge gap and invited all
the participants of the event to use the various proposals of great practical
importance made by contributors in their daily work. She underlined the
importance of taking into account mobility & access in the various social
development processes related to gender promotion, poverty alleviation and
sustainable development.
The publication can be ordered through http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/:
Hardback: ISBN 1 85649 981 2 £ 49.95
Paperback: ISBN 1 85649 982 0 £ 16.95
Free copies are available (subject to availability) to organisations and
individuals in the developing world. To obtain a copy please email the IFRTD
Secretariat at publications@ifrtd.org.
|
8.
|
Participatory
discussion in working groups and shared conclusions / recommendations
|
In order to
deepen the discussions on the subject and to bring in the vision and
experiences of the different participants, the plenary was split up in two
parallel working groups in the afternoon.
The groups based their discussions on the case studies, with
India and Nepal in one group, and the Madagascar case study in another.
Participants were encouraged not to limit their exchange of ideas to the case
studies alone but also to bring in their own experiences. The discussions took
place around the following
questions:
1.
What are the
processes and/or interventions that stimulate mobility & access and through
this reduce poverty?
2.
What are the
key factors constraining these processes and/or interventions?
3.
What can YOU
do to address / overcome these constraints?
The outcomes of the group work (see table on the next
page) were then presented to the plenary where a facilitated exercise of
synthesis took place.
|
Group
|
India /
Nepal
|
Madagascar
|
|
What stimulates M&A?
|
-
Integrating
poorest in planning, decision making, control -> ownership
-
Integrated
analysis using gender disaggregated data
-
Provision
of support services (repair & maintenance) and activities
-
Consider
eventual non-intended impacts
-
Take into
account time as a resource
-
Address/respond
to problems that DO exist
|
-
Participative
planning / approach from the beginning
-
Promotion
taking into account the framework conditions
-
Use of
labour based technologies
-
Credit and
jobs at village level
-
Provide
job opportunities
-
Subsidies
to reduce gender inequality (subsidize women’s time)
|
|
Constraints
|
-
Cultural
barriers (not as an escape hatch)
-
Invisibility
of work if no integrated analysis
-
Lack of
time and HR for analysis
-
Different
interest groups in “community” – power relations
|
-
Create
conditions for critical mass
-
Often men
are favoured by new transport means
-
New
transport means need “income” to guarantee maintenance
-
New
technology: demand vs. supply
|
|
Actions
|
-
Advocacy
and raising awareness
-
Flexibility
and possibility of adaptation to different contexts
-
Establish
log-frame for management, but don’t overload it
-
Stress
more on quality aspects
-
Making
data accessible to decision makers
-
Respect,
listen to and learn from people, but stick then to the commitments made
-
Promote
gender awareness in our organisations
|
-
Widen the
debate
-
Be aware
of the difference between high and low density areas
-
Train how
to use and how to behave
-
Influence
private funding
-
Promote
trend setters
-
Making
people aware of new technologies
|
Both groups
recognised the difficulties of integrating the poorest into planning,
decision-making, community involvement, control and the ownership of mobility
solutions and technologies. Participatory planning was considered key to
involving poor people. However this required greater resources, time and skill.
There was a need to identify key stakeholders, make an integrated and incisive
analysis to raise the visibility of the poor, take into account the power
relations within a community, to learn and to listen. Methodologies needed to
flexible and adaptable to different contexts.
To promote sustainable mobility requires the creation of
a critical mass of IMTs. Creation of a critical mass requires initially
favourable conditions, such as opportunities of income generation and credit or
private funding. Invariably such opportunities are available more to men than
to women. Difficulties in addressing the time poverty or ‘overload’ of
women was discussed in both groups, and the need to subsidise solutions that
reduce women’s time poverty was stressed. There were also problems regarding
the trade-off between safety of many affordable intermediate means of transport
(IMTs) and the need to create a critical mass. Participants warned about being
careful that cultural barriers to wider adoption, especially by women, were not
used in a discriminatory way.
Both groups also called for widening the debate on
mobility and access, advocating and creating greater awareness of the issues.
They encouraged the ‘transport sector’ to work closely with other sectors
and to develop a more integrated methodology for approaching transport projects
moving away from a single project focus. It was also recognised that data
should be more accessible to decision-makers and that gender awareness
need to be promoted within the organisations.
|
9.
|
TransWeb:
An Internet portal to mobility & access
|
Roger Schmid
|
TransWeb (www.skat.ch/transweb) is a structured
selection of web sites within the transport sector. This Internet portal helps
development practitioners to quickly obtain meaningful and relevant information
from the multitude of sources on the WWW. It provides access to selected,
qualitatively high standing existing knowledge without adding new volume to the
current flood of information.
TransWeb
links directly to web sites in categories like “publications”, “current
issues”, “events”, “training”, “networks” and “institutions”. It allows e.g. to
find relevant contacts of persons or organisations working in similar fields,
learn about new developments in the sector, know what events or conferences are
going on, select a suitable training course, etc. It is meant for user who
knows what he/she wants but not who can supply the information needed. Any
sector or thematic professional working for developing countries can use the
tool to find relevant information.
Seen the
flat hierarchy adopted, the site guides the user, in a short series of logical
steps, straight to the information sought after through hyperlinks going right
into the depths of the relevant sites. TransWeb is a moderated site: all links
are carefully screened before they are posted, their validity is periodically
verified and outdated ones are removed. Screening of relevant web sites and the
management of the Website is done with Skat's longstanding consulting
experience in the sector, its established resource centre activities and its
competencies in knowledge management. The activities are coordinated with SDC
and TransNet members.
TransWeb is
an initiative of SDC and the TransNet to whom it was officially presented for
the first time in March 2000. Since then it underwent substantial upgrading and
improvement within the framework of the knowledge management activities of the
successive SDC backstopping mandates Skat was entrusted with. In its last
version of December 31, 2001, TransWeb provides 74 hyperlinks structured in 8
main categories. A comprehensive sitemap giving a complete overview of TransWeb
can be accessed under www.skat.ch/ti/netw/transweb/tw_sitemap.html.
The rapidly
changing character of Internet and the information provided through it makes
that TransNet is near to be outdated today. After 1.5 years without supporting
funds for its upkeep, a corrective intervention is urgent in order to avoid
TransWeb’s collapse and to keep the tool’s attractiveness and the initially
created prominence.
Within the
new backstopping mandate the mobility desk of SDC contracted to Skat, a
corrective and enhancing intervention is finally possible. Before undertaking
major changes and time investment, a needs assessment (questionnaire) will be
sent out to various potential users in order to shape the tool according to the
requirements and ideas of the sector professionals.
Document available: TransWeb.pdf workshop presentation
·
Annemarie
Sancar recommended the SDC tool-kit on “Gender in practice” she distributed
during the workshop. More examples can be order through Annemarie.sancar@deza.admin.ch.
For more info: http://www.deza.admin.ch/dossier.php?dnav=169,169,169,169&userhash=1715252&l=d
·
Walter
Zimmermann suggested to distribute the papers / presentations and outcomes of
the workshop on a CD-ROM, including contact details of the participants (e.g.
scan of the business cards)
·
Several
topics for a next TransNet event were proposed:
o
HIV/AIDS
related to mobility & access
o
Rural
transport strategy
o
Maintenance
of infrastructure
o
Working in
conflict areas
o
Social
aspects of investment programs in infrastructure – public investments and
community driven development programs
o
Equity &
Inequity in mobility interventions
|
11.
|
Evaluation
of the event
|
|
|
What were the best aspects of the
workshop?
|
What could have been improved?
|
|
J
To meet
people from professional activities very different from mines / experience
sharing
J
Raising
the issue
J
Consensus
on some issues
J
Insight
into IMTs
J
Case
studies/ presentations
J
Group
discussions
J
Closure
address Thomas Zeller
J
Good
overview of the issues and focussed on the important constraints (e.g.
integrating the poor, critical mass, back-p support & services)
J
Some
important focus areas for further collaboration
J
Meeting
with gender interested people
J
SDC’s
positive support
J
Learning
about different practical interventions and their impact
J
Not an
academic discussion
|
L
Disappearance
of participants after lunch
L
Difficulty
to synthesise the findings
L
Greater
focus on issues of equity and conflicting agendas
L
Recognizing
the limits of community participation in projects
L
Absence of
a few outsiders with relevant experiences and responsibilities from related
sectors
L
Timing
L
No list of
participants
L
More time
to discuss – continue discussion formally via e-mail
L
Implementation
of technical aspects should be more emphasized
L
More
participants
L
THE
solution is still not found
|
|
12.
|
Closure
of the event
|
Thomas Zeller
|
In his
closing remarks, Thomas Zeller thanked all the participants for their
contribution to this workshop and the very interesting discussions and debates
it generated. His main insights from this event were that:
·
time has to
be taken into account as the main asset of the poor
·
integrating
the poorest in development work is difficult and complex
·
we have to
distinguish between low und high population density areas
·
we all have
to promote awareness and widening the debate within our institution on
transport-gender-poverty issues - this event was one step in this direction
within SDC
·
new
technologies need critical mass for auto diffusion
He expressed
also the hope that all participants could enhance their contacts with other
specialize and people and increase through this their personal / organisational
network. The workshop was then closed at 5 pm.
·
Some photos
of the event: Photos.htm
·
For fun:
Mobility & access - “Man of the year awards” (Awards.pdf)
