This is the progress that the EUROCLIMA+ programme has implemented in urban mobility climate actions.
Recent evidence shows us with increasing clarity that the consequences of climate change not only affect men and women differently, but further widen the gender gap. Sustainable development initiatives must therefore look more broadly to integrate gender inequalities.
Women's vulnerability to climate change is intertwined with aspects that are strongly present in the Latin American region, such as economic inequality, discrimination by social class and ethnic-racial aspects, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others.
The transport sector is no exception and this is even more relevant in Latin America, the most urbanised developing region in the world. The model in which we have built our cities and the systems for transit within them has obeyed an apparently neutral model that in reality has prioritised men and ignored the experiences and needs of women and girls, older adults, people with disabilities, and so on.
Mainstreaming the gender perspective in urban mobility policies, plans and projects is key to discouraging gender inequalities and climate change. Not doing so makes it difficult to achieve sustainable mobility, especially when we recognise that women are the main users of public transport and that the lack of their inclusion discourages more sustainable mobility alternatives.
Including a gender perspective in urban mobility projects is essential to achieve equity in access to the city", Valentina Vincent, specialist in sustainable mobility and climate change policy design.
These are some of the initiatives and advances that have been achieved in the region through the EUROCLIMA+ programme and its collaboration with cities and countries from the Urban Mobility sector.
Active Mobility with a gender approach in Colombia
Colombia's National Urban Mobility Strategy (ENMA) is an important benchmark for other countries in the region, as Colombia is the country with the most bicycle trips and bicycle lanes built in Latin America.
Developed by the Colombian Ministry of Transport through collaboration with the EUROCLIMA+ programme, the ENMA seeks to reduce the effects of climate change and GHG emissions through the promotion of active modes (walking and cycling) by means of an action plan that responds directly to the transport sector's NDC commitments. This policy assumes as vital components the mainstreaming of the gender and differential approach.
The incorporation of this approach allows for more robust analysis and recognition of people's different experiences and needs for mobility. For this reason, the ENMA places special emphasis on improving the mobility conditions of women, children, adolescents, older adults and people with disabilities.
Gender-sensitive measures in SUMPs of Latin American cities
With the MovilizaTuCiudad methodology, we have promoted Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in Latin American cities. Currently, Ambato (Ecuador), Antofagasta (Chile) and Guadalajara (Mexico) already have solid planning to implement measures in their territories aimed at environmental, social and financial sustainability in their mobility systems.
In these projects, the inclusion of a gender perspective during the diagnostic phases - such as travel surveys, territory studies and transport route analyses - allowed building a broader view of people's mobility dynamics and revealed the gap with regard to women's mobility needs.
In the case of Ambato, its SUMP contains the packages of measures "Programme for the reduction of inequality, poverty and gender gaps in transport" and "Programme for the improvement of rural accessibility and specific populations".
The Guadalajara SUMP includes, in its integral packages, "Incorporation of gender, inclusion and diversity aspects in mobility studies and works". This was possible thanks to various studies that yielded key information on gender and mobility, such as the Cyclist Survey, the Origin-Destination Surveys, as well as the identification of areas and intersections with the highest number of road accidents.
On the other hand, the SUMP of Antofagasta identifies gender gaps within the social aspects of mobility, which will be comprehensively addressed in its packages of measures on public transport or land use and public space, for example. Furthermore, in its measure "Creation of a regional metropolitan transport corporation", the work plan explains that a Gender Mobility Policy will be prepared in the short term.
The Havana SUMP has identified the lack of social equity and gender opportunities as one of the problems to be addressed within the indicators of its measures. Its measure "Promoting more inclusive public transport" will carry out training and awareness-raising workshops on gender equity.
These lessons will be disseminated in a publication to be launched in the middle of the year entitled How to integrate the gender perspective in SUMPs: Lessons from Latin American cities.
Sustainable and inclusive tuc tucs
Indigenous women are the main users of the tuc tucs in San Juan Comalapa, a municipality in Guatemala where the majority of the population belongs to the Kaqchikel indigenous community.
In this pilot project, we provided electric units and the installation of charging systems with a social transport approach. The units were designed to meet women's needs that are not covered by conventional tuc tucs: they are comfortable to travel in, have more space to carry packages and large objects. In addition, some units are for the exclusive use of older adults, children and people with disabilities.
Support to the development of women leaders
Historically, the transport sector has a low female participation. For example, in Latin America, women's participation in the transport sector ranges from 5.1% of the market in Bolivia to 17.5% of all transport sector employees in Colombia.
Expanding women's participation is the key to changing the standards of urban infrastructure provision by including women in jobs that are not traditionally held by women, such as bus driving, transport system operation and institutions responsible for urban mobility services.
To contribute to changing this context, EUROCLIMA+ has supported two editions of the Urban Women Leaders programme, a leadership programme co-created by Women in Motion (WIM) and the Bernard Van Leer Foundation.
In the training, direct beneficiaries of the EUROCLIMA+ programme from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay participated. As a final activity of the 2022 edition, the participants developed an UM intervention to address local challenges for the promotion of gender-inclusive cities. The projects are available on the WIM website.
Synergies for mobility and gender
Although the road to reducing the gender gap in mobility is still enormous, learning from these experiences has allowed us to synthesise these lessons and we will seek to replicate them in other contexts in the region.
Therefore, EUROCLIMA+ hosts the community of practice "Sustainable Urban Mobility Platform in Latin America", an initiative to promote knowledge exchange and synergy creation in the region. One of our objectives is to mainstream gender approach in the activities of this platform.
Gender mainstreaming will be present not only in future projects, but will continue to promote the issue in activities such as workshops, training, dissemination of information, spaces for exchange and networking.
Mobility in cities will never be truly sustainable if we do not continue to integrate the diverse experiences of half of the population. Evidence has shown that doing this has a positive impact for all people.
About Euroclima
Euroclima is a programme funded by the European Union and co-financed by the German federal government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
The Programme's mission is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting mitigation, adaptation, resilience, climate investment and biodiversity. To this end, it is implemented according to the "Spirit of Team Europe" under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), Group, French Agency for Development Cooperation (AFD), French Agency for International Development (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
It is implemented according to the "Spirit of Team Europe" under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
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