21 July 2022

CODATU participated in the Global Urban Leaders program

Participants of the program. Source: Despacio

Between October 2021 and April 2022, CODATU participated in the Global Urban Leaders program co-created by Mujeres en Movimiento and WomenMobilizeWomen and supported by GIZ, AFD, CAF, Despacio and Flone Initiative. The objective of this program is to promote women’s participation in the transport and mobility sector by promoting female role models and stimulating peer-to-peer skills development. This program has brought together some 60 women from the transport and mobility sector worldwide, including Noémi Mené, CODATU’s Project Officer.

Le programme s’est déroulé en deux temps, de manière intégralement virtuelle. La première partie était c

The program took place in two parts, entirely virtual. The first part consisted of sessions to increase the participants’ skills on the major issues of gender in transport but also on themes such as leadership and project management. The second part consisted of mentoring in pairs. This mentoring, with a frequency of one meeting per week for six weeks, allowed CODATU to exchange on the models of governance and financing of transport between the two countries (France and the Philippines) but also to reflect on professional cultures and their impacts on the careers of women in both countries.

In the skills-building part, synchronous and asynchronous workshops were led by outstanding women in the sector from around the world. Personalities such as Ana Gabriel Zuñiga (former Vice Minister of Public Affairs in Costa Rica) or Daniela Chacón Arias (former city councilor of Quito) intervened in the sessions. The focus was on interactivity and engagement of the participants in the different sessions with the use of digital tools such as Mural.

Example of an exercise conducted as part of the program. Source: Photo by the author.

During the mentoring part, sessions with all the participants were also held to share good practices in the field of transportation as well as in the field of project management and professional assertiveness.

During several workshops organized by TUMI, the participants created very evocative pictures

This exciting program allowed CODATU to strengthen its knowledge of gender issues in transportation (in line with the article published last year) but also to meet women from all over the world who are potential avenues for developing ever more inclusive activities.