What is the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development?

• A GLOBAL NETWORK
• HISTORY
• ACTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS
• ACTIVITIES OF THE FORUM
  • Newsletter Forum News
  • Publications
  • International Research
  • International Links
• NATIONAL FORUM GROUPS

A GLOBAL NETWORK

The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development is a global network of individuals and representatives from government, academia, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, consultancies and technical institutions, national and international NGOs and groups of community organisations in 83 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. There are over 1800 members in the network. The Forum’s long-term vision is of a world in which rural communities, particularly those who are poor and disadvantaged, have improved accessibility and mobility.

The Forum’s mission is to facilitate and promote successful application of policies and practices that will result in the development of rural transport systems that satisfy the accessibility and mobility needs of rural women, men and children.

The work of the Forum focuses on:

• the introduction and dissemination of intermediate means of transport (e.g. bicycles, pack animals, wheelbarrows, low-cost motor vehicles, etc.) to fill the gap between walking and motorized vehicles;
• improvement of local transport infrastructure such as paths, tracks, footbridges, rural roads and river ways using local resources and labour-based technologies;
• expansion of appropriate rural transport services, which can provide options for the rural population who can rarely afford purchasing their own means of transport;
• the increased use of an integrated planning approach to rural transport problems, incorporating the choice between interventions in the transport system to facilitate mobility and location, or the upgrading of services and facilities.
• the development of suitable financing mechanisms for rural transport systems
• the consideration of urban-rural linkages and interfaces
• the particular problems of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the societies where Forum members are active.

The Forum’s efforts are concentrated on sharing and using information through networks of actors from all levels of the rural transport sector and beyond the traditional geographic, cultural and historical barriers faced by many of its members. Through national and international networking, the Forum makes information available to large numbers and provides a platform where different opinions and interpretations can be discussed. The Forum is keen to develop and use knowledge on rural transport not as pure scientific information but to promote improved policies and practices. In a context where information and knowledge are increasingly becoming a tool of power, the Forum works to make knowledge freely available, especially to those who are marginalised from global knowledge production activities.

HISTORY

The Forum started its activities in 1992 with the financial support of NORAD, CIDA, SDC and SIDA. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Intermediate Technology Development Group (IT) shared the activities of the Secretariat. During the initial phase the Forum concentrated on establishing the network. Regional consultations in four regions with larger meetings organized in Southern and Eastern Africa and Asia led to the identification of interested individuals and organizations. During this time, the Forum sought to encourage national networks (National Forum Groups) in several countries in Asia and Africa.

ACTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Members of the Forum are those who participate in the Forum’s activities. As members they have a general responsibility to share information, to network with others and to promote the vision and mission of the Forum.

National Forum Groups are associated national networks that subscribe to the vision and mission of the Forum. They are key players in the global network and have the responsibility to develop and implement a programme of work at the national level that will help the Forum achieve its mission.

The Advisory Committee is the body that gives direction to the activities of the Forum’s Secretariat and is currently responsible for the governance of the Forum. The Committee comprises representatives of National Forum Groups and institutional members, including representatives of the founders of the network.

Institutional members of the Advisory Committee include NGOs and consultancies (ITDG, IT Transport), regional networks (ATNESA, SUSTRAN), multilateral programmes (RTTP, ILO ASIST) and donor institutions (SDC, DFID).

The Secretariat is a team of four currently based in London, United Kingdom, and in Lima, Peru. The Secretariat provides support to National Forum Groups, carries out the Forum’s international information sharing activities including producing and distributing the newsletter and maintaining the web page, and raises and manages the funds for the IFRTD Secretariat’s activities.

ACTIVITIES OF THE FORUM

Newsletter Forum News

Forum News is produced by the Secretariat, four times a year in English, French and Spanish. Members receive the newsletter free of charge. Each issue of the newsletter is based on a specific theme. Themes addressed in past newsletters have included sustainable rural livelihoods, gender and transport, engineering for transport, networking, maintenance, and community participation.

Publications

• Roads are not enough by Jonathan Dawson and Ian Barwell
• An Annotated Bibliography on Rural Transport by Niklas Sieber (editor)
• Networking for Development by Paul Starkey

International Research

Balancing the Load: Asia and Africa programme on gender and rural transport

The aim of the programme is to investigate how gender and gender relations affect men and women’s access in general and transport provision in particular, in the two continents of Asia and Africa.

The programme commissioned research in 15 countries. Workshops were held in 1998 in Calcutta, India, and Kampala, Uganda, for researchers and organisers to agree common aims and terms of reference. The research was carried out over a period of six months to one year. During June and July 1999 two further workshops were held in Sri Lanka and South Africa to discuss and analyse the findings of the case studies and to prepare issues for more public debate during two-day seminars that were held immediately after each workshop. One-hundred and fifty policy makers, transport practitioners and professionals working at the community level shared experiences, debated issues and identified specific interventions that would bring about greater integration of gender into transport initiatives. Proceedings of the seminars are available from the IFRTD Secretariat.

A book of the complete case studies is to be published.

International Links

At the international level the Forum has horizontal linkages to other networks, institutions, NGOs and regional and international programmes of bilateral and multilateral donors. These include:

• Animal Traction Network of Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA)
• Sub Saharan Africa Transport Programme (SSATP) of the World Bank, particularly its Rural Transport and Travel Program (RTTP)
• ILO programs in East and Southern Africa and Asia (ASIST)
• Sustainable Transport Action Network in Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN)

NATIONAL FORUM GROUPS

A National Forum Group (NFG) is a network of individuals and organisations in a country working towards the objectives of the Forum. Members are drawn from a wide range of organisations and disciplines. They include representatives of government agencies, multilateral or bilateral projects, universities and local and international NGOs. Core members of National Forum Groups meet regularly and plan to carry out joint activities. These range from research and development on intermediate means of transport to developing bibliographies and influencing government and donor policies and strategies.

The Secretariat supports NFGs in several ways. It provides:

• NFGs with contact details of potential members;
• assistance in developing NFG objectives and activities;
• assistance in fund raising for NFG activities, including, where necessary, some initial funding for the establishment of a NFG;
• information on activities of other NFGs and members in other regions;
• promotion of international and regional activities that will strengthen linkages between NFGs and between members of the international network.

If you want to become a Forum member or if you know anybody who is interested but not yet a member, please inform the IFRTD Secretariat. The Secretariat will try to answer any requests that are addressed to ifrtd@gn.apc.org.

IFRTD
http://www.ifrtd.org

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