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Forum News 8.3: Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Groups

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The theme of this issue of Forum News looks at how lack of transport affects vulnerable people. When even the able-bodied and relatively well-off suffer through lack of transport and access to markets, health care and education, the burden upon the old, unwell or very young is even heavier.
 
The disproportionate amount of hardship caused by lack of access to basic facilities is compounded by the fact that even when transport of one sort or another is available, it is often 
highly unsuitable for those with health problems or disabilities, or who just need to take particular care because they are young and small, or older and unsteady on their feet. Even some forms of IMT will be unsuitable in these cases, and the kind of transport solutions that will work need careful thought and planning with the user groups and their representatives.
 
There is a complicating dimension to the transport issues faced by children, in that they are often transporters themselves. Children such as the tempo boys (below) are fully employed in the transport industry, raising issues of child labour and access to education.
 

When improvements to transportation are under discussion, whether better access roads, bridges, IMTs or community buses, if the needs of the most vulnerable in the community are considered and met, then everyone in that society will find their daily lives improved. 

Format: Bulletin
Date: February 2001
Download: Acrobat pdf 111 kb