This paper draws on ethnographic research conducted 2019–2022 in three quite diverse city regions – Abuja, Cape Town and Tunis – to understand women’s lived experiences of work in the road transport sector. The strength of connection between male identity and motor-mobility in Africa is ubiquitous and has rarely been questioned by transport sector actors. Women are still largely absent from the story, constrained at least partly by hegemonic norms of femininity and an ‘affective atmosphere’ that deters female entry. However, there are occasional cases across Africa where women have dared to disrupt this masculinist enterprise, either as employees or entrepreneurs.
This study explores and compares women transport workers’ everyday experiences, drawing principally on in-depth interviews with those in customer-facing roles (taxi and bus drivers, bus conductors). Relevant public sector organisations and major transport employers were also consulted, while focus groups with community groups of men and women explored their attitudes to women employed as transport workers, and with school-girls investigated their career aspirations and views regarding employment in the sector. A final section looks to the future, post-COVID-19. Although new opportunities occasionally emerge for women, they need much more support, not only in terms of skills training, but also through flexible working opportunities, union recognition and action, microfinance and financial management training. This support is essential in order to expand the visibility of women transport workers and thus make the wider transport milieu less overwhelmingly male and more welcoming to women transport users.
Public transport in sub-Saharan Africa provides an essential means for young women to access education and employment opportunities. However, the sector is highly gendered, and results in limiting access to women both as users, and as workers within the sector.
The project “Youth engagement and skills acquisition within Africa’s transport sector: promoting a gender agenda towards transitions into meaningful work”, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council,
commenced in 2019 and sought to broaden our understanding of the challenges faced by women as users of public transport, as well as employees within the public transport sector.
The pilot interventions targeting female users focused on addressing the primary concerns of women as revealed by the research. For female employees within the public transport sector, employment skills training was delivered to facilitate the advancement within their respective organisations or companies.
Click below to read the full technical brief.
Transaid hosted a webinar with partners from Durham University on August 11th 2022, to present an overview of the ESRC-funded research project “Youth engagement and skills acquisition within Africa’s transport sector: promoting a gender agenda towards transitions into meaningful work”, that examined the everyday challenges experienced by women in accessing public transport both as users and as employees in Abuja, Cape Town and Tunis.
Many women in these three cities experience daily challenges relating to their personal safety in the access to and use of public transport, which further constrain their opportunities to access education, employment and healthcare. These challenges are further exacerbated by a male dominated transport sector, which limits women’s influence in decision-making, service planning and delivery.
This webinar was an opportunity to share the key learnings from this project, including a more detailed understanding of the challenges faced by women in accessing public transport, and the impact of the pilot activities implemented to respond to some of the findings of the research in each of the three cities.
Speakers included:
- Sam Clark (Transaid)
- Gina Porter (Durham University)
- Emma Murphy (Durham University)
- Fatima Adamu (Usaman Danfodio University)
- Shadi Ambrosini (Transaid)
Click below to download the webinar slides.
According to the World Bank (2017), Nigeria has the fourth worst estimated maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the world of 917 deaths per 100,000 live births. Nasarawa State, located in North Central Nigeria, has been estimated to have a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. Among the many factors contributing to the alarming MMR figures, transport availability and affordability are some of the key barriers to safe motherhood in Nasarawa. To address these constraints, Transaid established an Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) in two Local Government Authorities (LGA) in 2016-2017 that aimed to bridge the gap in available and affordable transport solutions for women seeking institutional deliveries.
Programmatic operations involved the training of ETS volunteer drivers, equipping them with the skills to safely transport women in need to a health facility in the six Local Government Authorities (LGA). Building on the learnings from this pilot intervention, in partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Ministry of Health in Nasarawa State, ETS activities were expanded into four new LGAs in November 2017.
To read the full technical brief, click below.
In July 2013, Transaid, in partnership with Nigerian NGO, Society for Family Health (SFH), received funding from Comic Relief to deliver a five-year programme aimed at improving access to maternal health services for rural communities in Adamawa State. Nigeria had a Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 576 deaths per 100,000[1] live births in 2013, one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on lessons learned from previous programmes including PRRINN-MNCH and the Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) programme in Gombe State, Transaid implemented an ETS in Adamawa State in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). This programme targeted communities living in 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs), constituting almost 3.1 million people[2], utilising the NURTW’s influence and capacity in coordinating the activities of taxi drivers nationwide.
To read the full technical brief, click below.
The Comic Relief funded Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) programme ran in Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, for a five-year period between 2013 and 2018. It focused on reducing the health care access gap for pregnant women in rural communities during delivery or maternal complications, through safe and affordable transport.
Given the limited evidence-based guidance for practitioners and policy-makers in both the health and transport sectors on how best to reduce the negative impact of lack of transport on Africa’s high maternal mortality rates, there is scope for this report to add to global learning and inform decision-makers.
The Adamawa State ETS programme Health Facility Study Report outlines the findings from an investigation to determine if and how the use of ETS correlates to a woman’s health condition upon arrival at a health facility during delivery or a maternal complication.
To read this report, please click below.
The Emergency Transport Scheme programme ran in Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, for a five-year period between 2013 and 2018 and was funded by Comic Relief. This focused on bridging the gap in access to health care for pregnant women in rural communities during delivery or maternal complications through providing safe, affordable transport. The programme was implemented by Transaid and Society for Family Health (SFH) in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Adamawa State Government and local communities.
The ETS User Survey Report presents the findings from the Adamawa State ETS programme and gathered both qualitative and quantitative data, which are invaluable in building understanding of the reasons behind ETS users’ choices to make use of the emergency transport scheme. The survey was conducted in March 2017 and gathered data from 150 women on their health and transport seeking behaviour.
To read this report, please click below.
This tool is to be used to gather qualitative and quantitative data from users of an Emergency Transport Scheme. The tool gathers data such as costs, timings and information on health seeking behaviours to inform the intervention as well as to provide information for effective project management.
They have been used in the five year Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) project which ended in 2018 and aimed to contribute to reducing maternal mortality in Adamawa State, Northern Nigeria. The project partnered with the National Union of Road Transport Workers’ (NURTW) commercial taxi drivers who were trained to provide an affordable, accessible, safe and timely emergency transport service for pregnant women in labour or for those experiencing complications during their pregnancy.
Click below to download this tool.
The assessment is a way to validate assumptions made during the programme design. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the area and anything which may influence the implementation of the programme
Transaid launched the Nasarawa State Emergency Transport Scheme from a pilot programme to a scale up programme covering six Local Government Areas (LGAs). This scheme will work closely with existing taxi drivers, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the government to provide affordable, accessible, safe and timely transport for pregnant women living in rural areas to a health facility.
Click below to download this form.
This assessment is a way to validate assumptions made during the programme design. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the area, from the women who live there, and anything which may influence the implementation of the programme. This tool was originally used during an assessment process for an Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) in Nasarawa, Nigeria.
Transaid launched the Nasarawa State Emergency Transport Scheme from a pilot programme to a scale up programme covering six Local Government Areas (LGAs). This scheme will work closely with existing taxi drivers, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the government to provide affordable, accessible, safe and timely transport for pregnant women living in rural areas to a health facility.
Click below to download this form.
Nasarawa State Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS)
https://www.pumaenergyfoundation.org/
This tool is to be used for gathering information from women regarding birth, maternal emergencies, danger signs and transport. It is used for gathering information to understand the process a woman and her family go through during pregnancy, delivery and emergencies in regard to what actions are taken if any, including transport. This tool can be used to gather data for a baseline, midline and endline study. It can also be used as an assessment tool to inform a design process around emergency transport.
This tool was initially designed for and used during Transaid’s Emergency Transport Scheme (ETS) in northern Nigeria. In 2013, Transaid was awarded with the five-year grant from Comic Relief to set up the Emergency Transport Scheme in Adamawa State. The ETS encourages local taxi drivers from the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to transport women to health centres free of charge or at minimal cost when they are faced with complications. To read more about this programme, please click here and to for the tool, please see link below.