Me Muevo Segura
In the Colombian capital Bogotá, fear of violence and sexual harassment is restricting the mobility of women, especially during the night. Therefore the project "Me Muevo Segura" aims to prevent this from happening.
© SUTP Project Description
The project “Me Muevo Segura” (I move safely) addressed the huge problem of Bogotá by mapping the complete street and cycle network of the city, implementing interventions in mass public transport as well as the redesign of public spaces to increase the comfort and security of women and girls.
In a participatory approach, this project successfully worked with different entities of government, civil society, and local communities. The data and insights collected provide an empirical basis for the City of Bogotá to target investments and programs to improve women’s safety. The tactical urbanism interventions have shown their transformative potential and are now in the process of replication, both locally and internationally.
Process
Preparation for data collection:
Establishment of an independent project advisory board and consultation with other city entities
Tendering and subcontracting of experts and staff for data collection
Design of data collection strategy, development of questionnaires for interviews and training of staff
Data collection and analysis:
Data collection on street network: 13 vehicles for map ping of highways, arterial, intermediate and local roads.
Data collection on cycling network: 2 teams of 4 cyclists
Application of perception surveys with women at 47 SITP (bus) stops and 46 Transmilenio (BRT) stations.
Realization of 3 focus group discussions with female cyclists to collect qualitative data
Transmission of all mapping data to SafetiPin India for analysis and development of Nightly Safety Index.
Me Muevo Segura campaign and outreach:
Development of “Me Muevo Segura” toolkit with information on sexual harassment in public transport and response mechanism
Design and Implementation of a “Me Muevo Segura” campaign: awareness events in neighbourhoods, spots on radio & in social media, banners and information in Transmilenio stations, distribution of toolkit etc.
Organization of an international event to disseminate the project’s approach and results
Public Space recovery through Tactical Urbanism:
Identification of un-secure spaces through the Safety Index; coordination with local authorities
Participatory design and implementation of tactical urbanism interventions
Organization of social and cultural activities to animate the recovered spaces
Mediation between local communities and city entities
Project's Objective
© SUTP The main objective is to increase the safety of girls and women in Bogotá. Therefore they mapped the whole street and cycling network of the city and redesigned public spaces.
Key Outputs
Bogotá is the first city in the world that mapped its complete street and cycling network and carried out georeferenced perception interviews:
- 16 145 km of streets
- 537 km of bike paths
- 14 311 interviews with women to understand their security perception in the city.
The data collection provides a solid information basis to the city of Bogotá on the magnitude and geography of women‘s safety and security. With this data, the city can make targeted and strategic investment into street lighting, walkways and other improvements of public space and transport for more security.
The city appropriated the project for introduction of a safety and response protocol for harassment of women in public transport, along with the campaign “Me Muevo Segura”.
This project approach was disseminated to a large
group of Latin American leaders at an international
“Me Muevo Segura” seminar, which hosted more
than 170 city leaders and experts from Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Perú and Costa Rica on November 28th of 2019.
The project leveraged funding from CAF to transform 5 precarious spaces into safe and comfortable places for women and children through tactical urbanism interventions and is coordinating the animation and maintenance of these spaces.
Challenges and Learnings
© SUTP This project stands out for its innovative and sustainable approach that combines data collection, awareness-raising, community participation, and tactical urbanism to reduce violence and sexual harassment in Bogotá.
The project’s approach demands strong inter-institutional coordination in order to be successful: Activities had to be coordinated between different city entities (i.a. secretaries of women and mobility, police, local mayors, the authority of public space).
A similar data collection exercises require strong data management skills within public administration; otherwise, the data obtained cannot be properly interpreted or utilized.
The project needs political will and long-term commitment i.a. to ensure the long term maintenance of the tactical urbanism interventions.
Potentials for Scaling Up
The innovative approach, which was taken in Bogotá, showed significant success. Provided that the public administration and the involved institutions shave the dedication and are skilled in the field of data management, the approach can be replicated in cities in Latin America and other regions. Furthermore, the project can be scaled through additional funds for implementing tactical urbanism interventions to increase safety in the identified precarious spaces. Several Latin American municipalities have contacted the project partners with the interest of implementing a similar project in their cities.
The Team
Frederic Tesfay
Project ManagerMechanical Engineer who immediately went into project management within the field of construction; having worked two years in USA and a further five years for GIZ in Africa focused on project implementation. After developing a strong focus on monitoring and controlling, he successfully began managing projects in the field of technical education and capacity building in Asia.
Focus Areas: TUMI Data, TUMI Labs, TUMI E-Bus Mission
Verena Flues
Component ManagerSupported by
CAF
Development Bank of Latin America
CAF is a development bank created in 1970, owned by 19 countries - 17 of Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal- as well as 13 private banks in the region. It promotes a sustainable development model through credit operations, non-reimbursable resources, and support in the technical and financial structuring of projects in the public and private sectors of Latin America.
CAF Website
GIZ
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
GIZ provides services worldwide in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations and governments of other countries all benefiting from these services. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is the main commissioning party, but GIZ also works with the private sector, fostering successful interaction between development policy and foreign trade.
GIZ Website
BMZ
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is headed by the Minister, Svenja Schulze, the Parliamentary State Secretaries, Dr. Bärbel Kofler and Niels Annen, and the State Secretary, Jochen Flasbarth. When Germany provides a developing country with a low-interest loan, when German experts advise the government of a partner country on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) or when private German organisations carry out projects in developing countries, these are all approaches involving direct development cooperation between Germany and its partners. Besides engaging in such bilateral development cooperation activities, Germany is also involved in activities for the benefit of the developing countries at the international level.
BMZ Website