Report No: AUS0001531 . Public Disclosure Authorized Assessment of barriers and opportunities using Gender and Roma lens in North Macedonia: Case of Transport Public Disclosure Authorized May 1, 2020 Transport Global Practice Public Disclosure Authorized . Public Disclosure Authorized . © 2017 The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because the World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution—Please cite the work as follows: “World Bank. {YEAR OF PUBLICATION}. {TITLE}. © World Bank.” All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: [email protected]. 1 Table of contents 1 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. 3 2 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... 4 2. Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 5 3. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 4. Overview of Municipalities ....................................................................................................... 11 4.1. Municipality of Sveti Nikole .................................................................................................. 11 4.2. Municipality of Kumanovo .................................................................................................... 11 5. Key findings of the FGDs with Roma and non-Roma women and Roma men ......................... 12 5.1. Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure ................................................................................... 12 5.2. Public transport availability: routes and bus stops ............................................................... 16 5.3. Public transport regularity and costs .................................................................................... 18 5.4. Safety in public space ............................................................................................................ 18 5.5. Public transport to access employment and health and education facilities ....................... 19 5.6. Participation in planning and decision-making regarding transport projects ...................... 20 5.7. Recommendations made by the focus group participants ................................................... 21 6. Employment of Roma and non-Roma men and women in the transport sector. .................... 23 6.1. Attitudes, perceptions and needs for employment in the sector ........................................ 23 7. Interviews with the municipality representatives .................................................................... 25 8. Focus group discussions with contractors and public transport companies ............................ 27 9. Conclusions and Next Steps ...................................................................................................... 30 Annex I: Community-Driven Infrastructure pilot .................................................................................. 33 Annex II: Legal Context Related to Roma and Gender Equality in North Macedonia .......................... 38 Annex III: Study Methodology .............................................................................................................. 41 Annex IV. Observations from walking audit ......................................................................................... 44 2 1 Abbreviations CSOs Civil Society Organizations CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CoE Council of Europe EU European Union FGDs Focus Group Discussions MDen North Macedonia Denar UN United Nations SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SMART Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Relevant and Time-bound 3 2 Acknowledgements The report was produced by Nato Kurshitashvili (Gender Specialist, World Bank), Kristina Hadzi-Vasileva (Consultant) and Bekim Ymeri (Senior Social Specialist) with the support of Jing Xiong and Svetlana Vukanovic, Senior Transport Specialists at the World Bank. The team would like to thank the peer reviewers Sanja Madzarevic-Sujster (Senior Economist) and Karla Dominguez Gonzalez (Gender Specialist) for their valuable feedback. The report also benefited from valuable comments from Karla Gonzalez Carvajal (Practice Manager), Cecilia Briceno Garmendia (Lead Economist), Simon David Ellis (Program Leader), Ross Pavis (Senior Operations Officer) and Nino Pkhikidze (Young Professional). The team is grateful to Karla Gonzalez Carvajal (Practice Manager) and Marco Mantovanelli, (Country Manager) for their support and encouragement to explore this topic. The team would like to express sincere gratitude to Harita Pandovska, Project Director of the Project Implementation Unit at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of North Macedonia for supporting the assessment and facilitating contacts on the ground. Our most profound appreciation goes to all women and men in the country who dedicated time and shared their opinions, concerns and views. Finally, the team gratefully acknowledges the Front Office of the Europe and Central Asia of the World Bank for funding the field work and the preparation of this report. 4 2. Executive 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. The assessment was conducted on a pilot basis in the two municipalities of North Macedonia: Sveti Nikole and Kumanovo. These municipalities were chosen following a brief comparison of all municipalities in North Macedonia in terms of their size, observed openness to consider gender and Roma issues and the existence of civil society organizations (CSOs) working on these topics. Kumanovo is a large urban center, with a municipal public transport system, significant Roma population and active CSOs working on gender and Roma issues. Sveti Nikole is a smaller municipality with a lower percentage of Roma population, dispersed both in the town and in the several villages around it. There is an active women’s movement and a cooperative local government. Since