National budgets: experts call for inclusion of non-market work …Needs effective monetary valuation of NMW

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National budgets: experts call for inclusion of non-market work

.Needs effective monetary valuation of NMW

By Udeme Clement

From left: Prof. Sam Edo, a Resource Person from University of Benin, Prof. Douglason Omotor, Advisor, Business Development & Consultancy Unit (BDCU), WAIFEM, Prof. Chris Orubu, Resource Person from Delta State University, and Dickson Antwi, representative of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), making a presentation at the workshop in Accra, Ghana:

Economic experts have advised countries within the West African sub-region to design a strong framework for integrating unpaid work into National Accounts and National Budgets of their economies, in order to ensure adequate monetary valuation of Non-Market Work (NMW).

This formed part of the topics discussed at the workshop on ‘Gender, national accounts and the economy’, organised by West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) and sponsored by African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) in Accra, Ghana.

According to these experts, integrating NMW in national accounts and budgets in economies within the sub-region would pave the way for effective monitoring as well as evaluating the impacts of policies on welfare and poverty reduction in the region.

The workshop, which drew Resource Persons and participants from Financial institutions, Universities and relevant organisations within the sub-region covered important topics such as ‘Concepts and Management of the Economy, Gender Issues in National Income Accounting, Concepts and guide on practices in “Time-use Studies” as an important tool for capturing NMW.

Other issues deliberated on at the workshop include, ‘Market and Non-market Output, Methods for Monetary Valuation of Non-Market Work and Constructing, Analytical Framework for Unpaid Work, Framework for Integrating Unpaid Work into National Accounts and National Budgets, Policy Options, Responses/Advocacy on Non-market, Monitoring and Evaluation of Impacts of Policies on Welfare and Poverty Reduction.

During the programme, it was observed that the workshop was well coordinated by WAIFEM’s team in Accra, Ghana, led by the Advisor, Business Development & Consultancy Unit (BDCU) of WAIFEM, Prof. Douglason Omotor, and the Programme Manager of the Unit, Mr. Aniekan James.