Study title

Youth engagement and skills acquisition within Africa’s transport sector was a collaborative research project between Durham University, UK, the University of Sokoto, Nigeria, the South African Labour and Development Research Unit [SALDRU] at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the UK-based NGO Transaid. The project’s core data set deposited with RESHARE comprises in-depth interviews focused on daily mobility and transport, conducted by project academic staff and young unemployed women we trained as peer researchers at the outset of the study; a small number of focus group discussions conducted by academic staff; and diaries focused on daily mobility, mostly written by peer researchers during the pandemic. Anonymised data sets are provided for each of the three study cities. Note: The research team had also anticipated collecting quantitative data concerning the pilot trainings for transport users and transport workers led by Transaid. These were to have comprised baseline assessments, followed by post-intervention surveys after one month and six months to assess skills uptake among participating women. Although Transaid staff succeeded in implementing pilot training interventions in each city, in the final months of the project, COVID constraints limited recruitment numbers and the collection of baseline data amenable to statistical analysis. Collection of post-intervention data has not been possible due to COVID constraints and the requirement to end the project on 31st March 2022. Transaid’s reports on the pilot interventions will be made available on the project website: https://transportandyouthemploymentinafrica.comAcknowledging the importance of mobilising Africa's young women into the labour-force, this research addresses the specific impediments presented by a highly gendered transport and travel arena and the implications this has for girls' and women's current/future access to meaningful work. Women of all ages are discriminated...