Uber in partnership with Manas Foundation announced gender sensitisation of 1 lakh drivers

On International Women’s Day, Uber has announced to gender sensitize 100,000 drivers. In partnership with the Manas Foundation, the company will gender sensitize its drivers by end of 2021. Earlier, the company had tied up with the NGO in 2018. It aimed to ensure that its drivers were more courteous and attentive to the needs of women riders. Through in-person sessions conducted across 7 Indian cities before the pandemic, the partnership sensitized 63,000 drivers. After a brief halt due to COVID-19, Uber and the Manas Foundation will deliver lessons virtually over Zoom.

These gender sensitisation sessions will educate drivers on how men and women use public transport systems. It will also teach the extent of harassment women face in public spaces. Further, the lessons will teach them the role of drivers in addressing the issue. They will also teach students how to modify their professional behaviour to make women feel safer.

On this, Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, NCW said that the move was heartening “to see Uber India working with sincerity and purpose to implement gender sensitisation”. “Today, they are beginning their initiative to sensitise drivers through online sessions; an innovation brought about by the pandemic. I congratulate them for successfully sensitizing 63,000 drivers through in-person sessions and wish them the very best for the next phase of the program to sensitize 100,000 drivers. Such behaviour-change interventions will also go a long way into setting the best possible safety standards for the transportation industry and in creating safer public places for women,” she added.

From the leaders

Speaking on the partnership, Pavan Vaish, Head of Driver, Supply & City Operations (Mobility), India & South Asia, Uber said, “Safety is at the core of everything Uber does. Our goal is to enable safe transportation for women. This, in turn, has a huge impact on the choices they make and the opportunities they can access. Our partnership with Manas Foundation has been very positively received by drivers who display their certificates with great pride inside their cars. We are delighted to expand the program to more cities this year and will continue to work towards scaling this program further.”

Monica Kumar, CoFounder, Manas Foundation stated that drivers are important stakeholders in making public transport safe for women. “They play a crucial role to promote women’s mobility,” she said. “These gender sensitization sessions will make them socially responsible and activate behavioural change.”