‘Women’s unpaid work must be recognised in nat’l policies’

City Desk :

Emphasising the need to recognise the invisible contributions of women to the national economy, Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Adviser Sharmeen Soneya Murshid on Tuesday called for integrating women’s unpaid care and domestic work into mainstream economic and social policy frameworks.

“The invisible contributions of women need to be made visible. To this end, this study, a joint initiative of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UN Women Bangladesh, reflects how important women’s unpaid work is to the country’s economy and why it is important to recognise this work,” she said, reports BSS.

She made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a publication ceremony of the report on ‘Unpaid Household Production Satellite Account of Bangladesh’ held at the Statistics Building in Agargaon. The report was prepared by BBS.

Murshid underscored the urgency of forming an inter-ministerial coordination framework to nationally recognise women’s unpaid work.

Highlighting the importance of gender-responsive policy planning, she said that national plans, programs, and budgets should incorporate gender considerations in revenue, labour, and social protection policies, particularly focusing on care work.

“The next national development strategy must be formulated with women’s rights,” she added, urging increased investment in decent care-giving jobs, gender-equal workplace policies, and care infrastructure by engaging the private sector.