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Japa: How Care Industry’ll Create 300 Million New Jobs Worldwide – ILO

Published

3 years ago

December 27, 2022

The care services sector has the potential to create around 300 million new jobs worldwide.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) made this disclosure in a new report on care at work, titled ‘Care at Work: Investing in Care Leave and Services for a More Gender Equal World of Work.’

In the wake of the rising dearth of care services, there is nothing more comforting for workers than knowing that their children and elderly relatives are being properly cared for.

In Europe, care, especially for young children and the elderly, is one of the fastest-growing sectors.

Against this background, the ILO has called for more investment in this sector.

The world body, in its report, highlighted the benefits of investing in care services and policies to alleviate poverty, promote gender equality, and support care for children and the elderly.

It also highlighted the need to balance work with care which is essential for societies and economies to prosper and to significantly reduce gaps in care services.

The ILO’s Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) Work Maternity and Family Protection Specialist, Laura Addati, in the report, revealed that paid care work is an essential source of employment, especially for women. women.

She said the care workforce represents more than eight percent of the total employment of 12 million workers.

With its potential in job creation, he raised the need to strengthen social dialogue and the consultation process to develop a better system and mechanism on the important agenda.

FG and the Nigeria care sector

Taking a look at the sector in Nigeria, the operators urged the Federal Government to shed light on the care service, stating that legislation is required to ensure compliance with the rules, as well as to regulate the conduct of care providers.

Noting that the care economy is growing as demand for child and elderly care increases in all regions, Arrowshot Care Solutions Chief Executive Officer Dapo Olugbodi said his organization stands ready to work with the Nigerian government to provide legislation for the care industry in Nigeria.

According to him, there are 15 basic standards of care that professionals in the care industry must meet.

He urged industry operators to focus on a strong adherence to ethical standards in the performance of their duties.

He said these are primarily due to the duties of the life care industry and as a result, a strong focus on professionalism should be the standard.

Olugbodi explained that proper training and care providers’ exposure to global standards in the care industry were crucial factors in instilling public confidence in the industry.

He stated that it had become imperative for the government to institute a proper structural framework in the care service industry to save it from unprofessionalism and quacks.

This, according to him, is to ensure proper standards are maintained in line with global best practice.

Noting that the care service is a professional service aimed at providing proper care to the elderly, proper training of the care service providers, Olugbodi said, was paramount.

He said the Arrow shot care solution is poised to raise the bar by providing holistic training for care providers.

“It should be noted that the training is in line with global requirements. Training for our staff is provided by a United Kingdom (UK) based healthcare company.

“There is the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the UK, which is empowered to monitor the care sector. There is the Care Law, which regulates the way of providing care to people. The basis of this is to give independence to individuals.

“The care industry is heavily regulated. We will work with the Nigerian government to achieve legislation. There should be standards and legislation for the care industry in Nigeria,” she said.

The Arrowshot boss, who said the care economy is growing as demand for child and elderly care increases in all regions, said the sector will create a large number of jobs in the coming years.

“Yet care work around the world continues to be characterized by a lack of benefits and protections, low wages or no compensation, and exposure to physical, mental, and in some cases sexual harm.

“It is clear that new care solutions are needed on two fronts in terms of the nature and provision of care policies and services and the terms and conditions of care work,” she added.

How investment can boost care sector

Investing in the care sector can boost employment for women and men, increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is essential to overcoming entrenched discrimination against women in the workplace and in society.

Studies have also revealed that work in the care sector remains significantly undervalued and characterized by poor wages and working conditions.

Women do more than three quarters of unpaid care work. This equates to 13 percent of the global GDP, or $10 trillion per year.

In six emerging economies, an investment of two percent of GDP in care would create more than 42 million jobs.

Care jobs are often low-paid, physically and emotionally demanding, with heavy workloads carried out in unsafe conditions, inadequate training and poor career prospects and, in some extreme cases, in conditions close to slavery.

While caregivers are often underpaid, care is expensive for those who have to pay out of pocket.

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Fake Labubu Dolls Worth Millions Seized In London Raid Amid Growing Safety Fears

Published

14 hours ago

August 3, 2025

Editor

Thousands of fake Labubu dolls believed to be worth millions of pounds have been seized at an industrial estate on the outskirts of London following a major crackdown led by Trading Standards and law enforcement agencies.

The operation, which followed weeks of investigation, traced the fake merchandise from a corner shop in Swansea, south Wales, to a warehouse complex in London.

Officers discovered rooms stacked floor-to-ceiling with fake goods, but it was the imitation Labubu dolls at the centre of a viral TikTok craze that drew the most concern.

The dolls, produced by popular toy company Pop Mart, have surged in global demand, with some genuine pieces retailing for up to £80. The popularity of the brand helped the company double its revenue to £1.33 billion last year, according to Forbes. However, authorities say the boom has also attracted criminal enterprises looking to profit from the trend through counterfeit production.

“The head comes off. The feet pull off. The eyes aren’t glued in,” said Rhys Harries, a Trading Standards officer, while examining one of the seized dolls. “These are clear choking hazards.”

Using a plastic tool modelled after a child’s throat, Harries demonstrated how easily parts of the fake dolls could become life-threatening. “These parts would get stuck and potentially cause choking,” he warned.

The scale of the operation was alarming. Border Force officials say they have intercepted hundreds of thousands of fake Labubu dolls at UK ports in recent months, with many traced back to manufacturers in China, Hong Kong, and Turkey.

In one case, a mother from Caerphilly, Jade, recounted how fake Labubu dolls she bought for her six-year-old son Harri’s birthday began falling apart within hours. “The hook came off and ended up in his mouth,” she said. “Luckily he was old enough to spit it out and tell me.”

Despite knowing the dolls were fakes, Jade said she bought them due to the high cost of the original ones and peer pressure from other children. She got the knock-offs for just over £10 each.

Authorities say the rush to cash in on the craze has led to the use of substandard and potentially dangerous materials, including toxic plastics. Kate Caffery, deputy director of intelligence and law enforcement at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, said counterfeiting is the second most lucrative source of criminal income worldwide, after drug trafficking.

“There’s a complete disregard for safety,” Caffery said. “They’re made from anything from the inferior to the outright dangerous.”

TikTok collector and plush toy enthusiast Meg Goldberger, 27, said she struggled to find genuine dolls due to scalpers bulk-buying authentic stock and reselling them at inflated prices. “They sell out in seconds,” she said. “Some resellers are using bots to buy hundreds at once.”

Investigators found invoice books showing the dolls were destined for locations across the UK. Some of the seized dolls will be used as evidence, while the rest will be stored in a secure location before being recycled or destroyed.

Pop Mart has been contacted for comment on the counterfeit issue, which authorities say is now a national concern.

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Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

Published

1 day ago

August 2, 2025

Editor

Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

“It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

“Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

AFP

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Three In Russia

Published

1 day ago

August 2, 2025

Editor

Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, regional governors said on Saturday.

One woman was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack on an enterprise in Penza, the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, wrote on Telegram.

An elderly man was killed inside a house that caught fire due to falling drone debris in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev posted on Telegram.

In the Rostov region, a guard at an industrial facility was killed after a drone attack and a fire in one of the site’s buildings, acting Rostov governor Yuri Sliusar said.

“The military repelled a massive air attack during the night,” destroying drones over seven districts, Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory — 34 over the Rostov region — in a nearly nine-hour period, from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight Russian drone attacks left three people wounded, governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

Several buildings, homes and cars were damaged, he said.

Russian forces have claimed advances in Dnipropetrovsk, recently announcing the capture of two villages there, part of Moscow’s accelerated capture of territory in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

Kyiv denies any Russian presence in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in the more than three-year conflict, said Friday that he wanted peace but that his demands for ending Moscow’s military offensive were “unchanged”.

Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders.

“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” he wrote on X.

AFP