On 11 July 2024, the International Union of Railways (UIC) Africa region hosted the webinar “Women in Rail in Africa - Pathways to Progress and Overcoming Challenges”, bringing together more than 192 participants from 28 countries, with representatives from the African railway community, development banks, and regional institutions among other experts and professionals taking part.

Moderated by Said Chandid, Chief of the UIC Africa Regional Office, and Christian Chavanel, Railway System Director and Coordinator of the UIC Africa region, the webinar aimed to identify recommendations and initiatives to incorporate an increase in women’s participation, as both employees and passengers, into the development of the rail sector in Africa, in line with policies and targets established by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Chair of UIC Africa, noted that women only comprise between 8 to 16% of employment in the transport sector, despite that fact that 50% of the African population is female, underlining the untapped potential of women in the continent’s demography.

François Davenne, UIC Director General, noted the importance of integrating more women across all domains and levels of rail companies to help create a more diverse, effective and an overall better workplace for everyone.

The webinar featured presentations on international gender equality efforts in transport and the rail sector including:

• The ITF Gender Analysis Toolkit for Transport, a comprehensive resource that offers practical methods for incorporating gender-inclusive perspectives into transport projects, policies, and planning.
• UIC’s newly-launched gender equality sector activities, which showcase its commitment to gender equality, data collection on gender indicators as part of the UIC statistics pooling, and the Train-2B-Equal project, which focuses on training and building a body of gender-responsive policies and measures for rail companies to empower women as employees and users of rail services.

Best practices were shared by several rail companies, including FS Italiane, Ethio-Djibouti Railways (EDR), and the Moroccan National Railway Office (ONCF), demonstrating ongoing efforts to promote gender diversity and inclusion in the rail industry across different regions.

This event marks a significant step towards addressing gender equality in Africa’s rail sector and fostering a more inclusive and diverse industry for the future. A dedicated taskforce will soon be launched to this end by the UIC Africa region, with the support of other departments at UIC and in cooperation with the African Union Commission.