Overview
Pan African Action Plan for Active Mobility Southern Africa Sub-Regional Workshop
The Pan African Action Plan for Active Mobility (PAAPAM) Southern Africa Sub-Regional Workshop convened on March 7-8, 2024, in Cape Town, South Africa. This two-day event brought together delegates from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, and South Africa to advance the development of active mobility strategies.
Overview of PAAPAM: PAAPAM, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat, aims to prioritize walking and cycling in transport policies across Africa. Its objectives include defining priorities, raising awareness, increasing investment, promoting knowledge sharing, and tracking progress. The consultation process involves engaging stakeholders through masterclass workshops and virtual sessions.
Day 1 Highlights: The first day of the workshop featured a bicycle ride in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's largest informal settlement, showcasing community-based initiatives like Khaltsha Cycles. Participants engaged in discussions on mobility challenges and initiatives, including opportunities for empowering community-based cycling groups and initiatives and making bicycles more affordable. The day culminated in a World Café session, allowing interaction with researchers from the Africa Transport Research Conference (ATRC) hosted by the University of Cape Town.
Day 2 Highlights: The second day of the workshop commenced with welcoming remarks from UNEP and the FIA Foundation, who emphasized the urgency for sustainable mobility in Africa. Presentations by the City of Cape Town and The Stockholm Environment Institute at The University of York (SEI-UoY), stressed the importance of inclusive, resilient infrastructure. Interactive exercises facilitated by experts explored stakeholder engagement and climate resilience in transport planning. The day concluded with action planning sessions and the formulation of regionally specific commitments to PAAPAM objectives.
Outcomes and Next Steps: The workshop resulted in increased awareness and capacity for inclusive, climate-resilient mobility in Southern Africa. It was also an opportunity to develop key action areas for walking and cycling in the region. The participants emphasized the need to improve awareness, build institutional capacity, increase financing, and prioritize safety. Gender, accountability, climate change, and financing were highlighted as cross-cutting issues for action. Moving forward, UNEP and partners will integrate workshop outcomes into the final PAAPAM framework and organize follow-up virtual workshops to sustain momentum.
Conclusion: The PAAPAM Southern Africa Sub-Regional Workshop provided a platform for stakeholders to collaborate, share knowledge, and develop actionable strategies for promoting walking and cycling in the region. By fostering partnerships and empowering local authorities and civil society, the event contributed to advancing sustainable and equitable mobility solutions across Southern Africa. The workshop was the first in a series dedicated to defining sub-regional priorities, building capacity and increasing awareness.
