COUNTRY PROJECTS

Share the Road’s goal is to promote systematic investment policies for walking and cycling in both government and donor agencies.  In our current stages of work, Share the Road is focusing on national-level projects with interested governments in Africa.  The mid-term goal is to build an Africa regional partnership for financing involving major donors – a public-private partnership that can support countries in responding to the great demand for safe, convenient and enjoyable walking and cycling.

If you are interested in working with Share the Road in your own country or want to join any of our ongoing projects, please contact us.

Kenya

Kenya became the first pilot country for the ‘Share the Road’ initiative in 2009 when UNEP began working with the government’s lead agency on urban roads, the Kenya Urban Road Authority (KURA).  KURA, as defined in the Kenya Roads Act, 2007, is the agency in charge of the management, development, rehabilitation and maintenance of all public roads in the cities and municipalities in Kenya except where those roads are national roads.

The impetus for this cooperation was two-fold: on the one hand, the global headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme is Nairobi, Kenya, so it made sense to work with the host country government in the new Share the Road initiative.  On the other hand, when there were two fatal accidents on United Nations Avenue, both involving children on foot or bike and a motor vehicle, it became clear that immediate countermeasures were necessary to ameliorate the situation. 

Uganda

Uganda is Share the Road’s second pilot country.  Both the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) and Uganda National Roads Authority were invited to the “Share the Road Report Launch and East Africa Workshop” at UNEP Headquarters in November 2010 (more on this meeting).  Following the meeting, UNEP learned of MoWT’s interest in developing a national Share the Road project. 

In July 2011, a mission took place to Kampala, Uganda, in order to meet with key stakeholders and engage them in the Share the Road initiative.  In total, 9 different government and civil society stakeholders were informed about the work and progress in Kenya, while discussing ideas for what is necessary in Uganda to promote walking and cycling.  This was a joint UNEP and UN-Habitat mission in order to maximise coordination and cooperation between the two agencies both working on non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure – UNEP on the normative side and UN-Habitat on the operational side.   

Rwanda

Rwanda is Share the Road’s third pilot country.  The Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) was invited to the “Share the Road Report Launch and East Africa Workshop” at UNEP Headquarters in November 2010 (more on this meeting).  During the meeting, UNEP and RTDA discussed the possibility of launching a national Share the Road project in Rwanda.  RTDA informed UNEP that a recent pilot project on pedestrian facilities had at first been met with opposition but that once the project was complete and people could actually experience the benefits, more demand was generated for such infrastructure. 

Since then, UNEP and RTDA worked together on a concept paper for submission to the Minister of Infrastructure (see ‘Key Reference Documents’) on a Share the Road project.  The ideas include improvement of road design for both walking and cycling and a national policy on non-motorised transport (NMT), coherent with the government’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), 2008-2012.  The Minister approved the ideas and now a national stakeholders workshop is being planned. 

Burundi

Burundi is Share the Road’s fourth pilot country.  UNEP first engaged with the government of Burundi when representatives from the Ministry of Transport and from Bujumbura City were invited to the “Share the Road Report Launch and East Africa Workshop” at UNEP Headquarters in November 2010 (more on this meeting).  Then, in June 2011, UNEP received a request for support in improving road conditions for all users, during the “Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Workshop on the Costs and Benefits of Clean Fuels and Vehicles” (more on this meeting)