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Uddeshya 2025: New Initiatives Launched to Further Gender - Inclusive Mobility in Indian Cities
04 Mar, 2025
New Delhi, March 4, 2025: The third edition of WRI India’s annual gender and mobility convening, Uddeshya 2025, brought together key stakeholders to drive gender- inclusive mobility in Indian cities. The Government of India’s initiatives, including the PM E-Bus Sewa scheme, PM E-Drive and the expansion of the metro network across cities, are set to enhance the public transport system significantly. The day-long convening highlighted the transformative potential of equitable transport planning and policy in improving access to jobs and healthcare and addressing India’s diverse mobility needs.
Speaking at the plenary session, Dr. Shamika Ravi, member of the Economic Council, Advisor to Prime Minister, and Secretary to Government of India, said, “With an increase in the allocation for the urban development schemes in the budget, we need concrete ideas to make mobility more accessible for women. Good ideas often fail to translate into practice and action, which is why we need to look at sustainable case studies that can be replicated across cities. While women's labour force participation has increased to over 41% over the last few years, most of the increase has been in rural areas. This is because there has been a strong policy focus with various schemes in rural India. We need similar research-backed ideas that can translate into impactful policy and action in urban areas.”
Uddeshya 2025 is being organised under the aegis of MobiliseHER, a three-year project, supported by the European Union, to enable gender-responsive urban mobility in Indian cities, in partnership with Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI), WRI India, CEPT Research and Development Foundation and PRIA India.
The convening is also supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which launched the implementation of the four-year project ‘Electrifying Mobility in Cities: Investing in the Transformation to Electric Mobility in India’ in July 2024 with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the leadership of NITI Aayog. Key partners for Uddeshya 2025 include the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), the World Bank, GIZ India, Safetipin and The Urban Catalysts.
This year’s event marked the launch of two major initiatives: NIUA in collaboration with the World Bank, WRI India and GIZ India launched the Community of Practice (CoP) for Gender-Responsive Mobility and the MobiliseHER website, a platform dedicated to advancing safe and accessible travel for women. CoP aims to establish a strong network of professionals and organizations dedicated to advancing inclusive urban mobility in Indian cities.
Talking about the CoP launch, Dr. Debolina Kundu, Director, NIUA, said, "CoP is a powerful platform to foster dialogue, share knowledge and scale up collaboration for gender-responsive mobility. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, we can drive meaningful change, bridge critical gaps in policy and practice and create more inclusive and equitable transport systems. NIUA is proud to anchor this initiative and looks forward to strengthening collective efforts toward lasting impact."
Speaking at the launch of the MobiliseHer website, Delphine Brissonneau, Attaché/Senior Programme Manager, Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan, said, “Smart and Sustainable urbanisation is at the core of the European Union’s partnership with India. Inclusive urban mobility is an important dimension of this partnership as it promotes economic empowerment for women and other vulnerable demographic groups, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, and children. MobiliseHER aims at creating safer, more accessible, and equitable transport systems. The MobiliseHER website serves as a platform and knowledge repository, sharing insights and best practices to advance this mission.”
Discussions at Uddeshya also emphasized the importance of translating gender- responsive transport policies into actionable outcomes, exploring strategies for ensuring a just, inclusive and equitable transition to e-mobility and innovative financing mechanisms for gender-responsive metro systems. The sessions highlighted the importance of local adaptation, gender-sensitive data analysis and active community participation as crucial elements for translating research and policies into impactful, on- the-ground solutions.
In the second plenary session, Dr Sudhir Sharma, Officer-in-Charge, Climate Change Mitigation Unit, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), noted, “A truly sustainable transition to electric mobility must not only be green but also inclusive. By prioritizing gender inclusion in the e-mobility workforce through targeted initiatives, the electric mobility sector will create equitable opportunities and foster innovation and long-term growth resulting from a diversified workforce. Through its four- year initiative ‘Electrifying Mobility in Cities: Investing in the Transformation to Electric Mobility in India’, UNEP is committed to promote electric mobility in India, while also ensuring that the transition is sustainable and just.”
Uddeshya 2025 also featured ‘Sutradhaar – Unfolding Journeys, Connecting People’ that highlighted the lived experiences of people as they navigate the public transport systems in cities. The day-long event capped off with the Uddeshya Awards, which felicitated organizations and individuals contributing to more equitable mobility systems. Winners of the awards included Varsha Modak, a bus conductor from Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd.; Bhavyalakshmi MS, a terminal controller from Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., among others. Additional awardees included the Samarthyam Foundation for their work in promoting universal accessibility and the Gender and Policy Lab for their work in improving safety and access for women in public spaces.
Speaking about the significance of a convening like Uddeshya, Madhav Pai, CEO, WRI India said, “By bringing together diverse stakeholders, Uddeshya facilitates conversations that not only address the challenges of implementing policy but also unlock pathways for collective action. The event aims to inspire innovative approaches to build transport systems that are accessible, equitable, and reflective of the varied needs of India's population.”
For more information, please contact
Tanushree Venkatraman: 9819761990,
Satbhan Singh: 8920105135