This paper reflects on the mobility experiences of women in African cities in COVID-19, based on research conducted both prior to and following entry into the COVID-19 ‘moment’. It draws on material collected during an ongoing action research study aimed at addressing the everyday transport and mobility challenges faced by young women living in poor peripheral communities of three African cities – Abuja, Cape Town and Tunis. The project has the specific objective of supporting young women's improved access to employment opportunities through trialling various mobility/transport-related skills interventions (based on prior in-depth analysis of mobility constraints). With the onset of COVID-19 some readjustments to the research focus and planned interventions became necessary. The research teams, together with an NGO partner, are now working to chart how young women's everyday experiences of mobility and transport - both as transport users and as transport sector workers - are changing as processes of lockdown and their relaxation evolve. The paper covers the period from early 2019 through to March 2021, and offers reflections regarding ‘lived experiences’ of mobility practice pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and the potential longer-term mobility-related impacts for women resident in low-income neighbourhoods in a post-COVID-19 era. This leads to consideration of key policy lessons. There is potential for prioritisation of Non-Motorised Transport interventions towards a green restart that would benefit women (for instance through promoting women's cycling), and for growing women's participation as transport operators, even perhaps the usage of drones to aid women's safer pedestrian travel. But such interventions will require far greater representation of women in COVID-19 and wider transport decision-making entities than has hitherto been the case.

本文基于在进入 COVID-19“时刻”之前和之后进行的研究，反思了非洲城市中女性在 COVID-19 期间的流动经历。它借鉴了一项正在进行的行动研究中收集的材料，该研究旨在解决生活在三个非洲城市——阿布贾、开普敦和突尼斯的贫困外围社区的年轻女性所面临的日常交通和流动性挑战。该项目的具体目标是通过试验各种与流动性/交通相关的技能干预措施（基于事先对流动性限制的深入分析），支持年轻女性改善就业机会。随着 COVID-19 的爆发，有必要对研究重点和计划干预措施进行一些调整。研究团队与非政府组织合作伙伴一起，目前正在努力绘制年轻女性（无论是作为交通使用者还是交通部门工作人员）的日常出行和交通体验如何随着封锁和放松过程的演变而变化。该文件涵盖了从 2019 年初到 2021 年 3 月的时期，并反思了大流行前和大流行期间流动实践的“生活经验”，以及对低收入社区女性居民的潜在长期流动相关影响在后 COVID-19 时代。这导致需要考虑关键的政策教训。有可能优先考虑非机动交通干预措施，以实现绿色重启，这将使妇女受益（例如通过促进妇女骑自行车），并有可能提高妇女作为交通运营商的参与度，甚至可能使用无人机来帮助妇女更安全地步行。 但此类干预措施将需要比迄今为止更多的女性在 COVID-19 中的代表性以及更广泛的交通决策实体。