(VOVworld) – Promoting gender equality through effective design and implementation of transport projects is high on the agenda of the Mekong Gender and Transport Workshop which opened yesterday in Hanoi.

Transport officials from Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam together with development partners of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) are convening in a 3-day workshop to discuss gender issues related to transportation. Andrew Head, ADB Deputy Director for Viet Nam, said the workshop will explore ways to empower women by expanding their access to services, income, employment opportunities, and social interaction. Steps need to be taken to ensure that transport projects meet women’s different mobility needs as transportation users, and their priorities must be factored into transport sector policy planning.