July 2006, id21 insights #63

Transport, the missing link?

A catalyst for achieving the MDGs

What do poor rural farmers do when the rainy season cuts off their access to markets? What do women in labour do when the nearest health clinic is 30 kilometres away and transport is virtually non-existent? How can girls attend school if the journey isn't safe? How do women provide for their families when the transport burden of domestic chores takes up potential income generating time?

Other articles in this issue:

Creating jobs

In rural areas where non-farm employment opportunities are rare, road maintenance can provide much needed work.

Getting to school

Achieving universal primary education

Physical mobility and transport barriers that prevent rural children from attending primary school can be substantial but are often complex and hidden. The situation is particularly severe in sub-Saharan Africa where, with few exceptions, more than half the children in any age group fail to attend school regularly.

Balancing the load

Gender and mobility

Women, particularly in poor rural areas, often spend more time and effort on transport, have less access to public services and less control over resources. Women also have fewer opportunities than men to use different types of transport such as wheelbarrows, animal traction or motorcycles.

Transport for pregnant women in Ethiopia

Africa has the highest maternal mortality ratio, with 830 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the World Health Organization.

Halting the march of HIV/AIDS in Africa

Across eastern and southern Africa, the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals, households, communities and society as a whole, is devastating. No sector has been left untouched, including health, education, agriculture, transport, small and big business, trade and civil society. What can the rural transport sector do to help lesson the impact of the disease?

A global network for rural transport

Conventional approaches to MDG 8 - a global partnership for development - tend to focus on trade, aid and private sector issues. The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) is developing another type of partnership, a global network of individuals and organisations to improve access and mobility for poor people in rural areas.

Conflicting agendas in Colombia

In Colombia's tropical jungle, indigenous and African descendant communities live isolated from the rest of the country. Large-scale transport development, responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and widespread deforestation, has a poor environmental record in one of only two humid tropical jungles left in the world.

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