Assessment of Barriers and Opportunities Using Gender and Roma Lens in North Macedonia : Case of Transport
Building and maintaining roads can have significant economic and social benefits in terms of economic growth and increased access to jobs and to a range of services citizens depend on. However, road infrastructure and transport services are often m...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/565711591156184199/Assessment-of-Barriers-and-Opportunities-Using-Gender-and-Roma-Lens-in-North-Macedonia-Case-of-Transport http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33887 |
| Summary: | Building and maintaining roads can have
significant economic and social benefits in terms of
economic growth and increased access to jobs and to a range
of services citizens depend on. However, road infrastructure
and transport services are often mistakenly assumed to have
uniform benefits for everyone, but they are, in fact,
differently experienced by different population groups. For
example, women and men often have varying needs for
transport infrastructure and services, which stem from their
different productive and reproductive roles they hold in a
society. At the same time, women and men are not homogenous
and they experience transport differently due to their
different socio-economic and demographic features, such as,
income, age, disabilities, ethnicity and/or location. These
multiple identities often lead to multiple and overlapping
disadvantages for many, commonly known as
‘intersectionality1’- influencing access to and use of
services and economic opportunities of the multiple identity
holders differently. As an example, a Roma woman could face
several mobility disadvantages for being women and being a
member of a socially excluded group. This assessment was
undertaken as part of the World Bank financed North
Macedonia Local Roads Connectivity Project (‘the Project’)
to explore, for the first time, the less-studied situation
of social inclusion in a transport project along gender and
ethnicity lines in the country. The assessment (i)
identified specific needs of Roma women, Roma men and
non-Roma women for road infrastructure and public transport,
(ii) explored their needs, experiences and aspirations
towards the employment in the sector, and (iii) defined
entry points for the Project to address some of these needs.
The Roma2 are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, as well
as one of the most deprived and socially excluded groups. At
the same time, women, in general, tend to face different or
more acute mobility barriers compared to men. Also, fewer
women than men are employed in the transport sector, which
is traditionally male dominated. Therefore, it was decided
to apply intersectional lens to the analysis to understand
mobility and employment barriers that Roma women, Roma men
and non-Roma women are facing in order to bring out more
nuances of social exclusion and better tailor the solutions
to the project. |
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