UN Women and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have called on Nigeria's private sector to scale up investment in the care economy in order to create more jobs, improve social infrastructure and increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The organisations made the call in Lagos at the Care and Economy Conference 2024 jointly organised by the Event Nanny and UN Women Nigeria.

The conference with the theme: "Unlocking Women's Economic Empowerment Through Private Sector Investment in Childcare: Opportunities, Challenges and Best Practices", attracted stakeholders in the private sector, childcare experts and gender equality advocates.

Delivering her speech, UN Women Resident Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Beatrice Eyong, pointed out that care work, both paid and unpaid, remains a cornerstone of the societies, yet, it is often "overlooked, undervalued, and underfunded."

Eyong said, "Globally, particularly here in Nigeria, women shoulder the vast majority of unpaid care responsibilities."

Represented by Dr Chukwuemeka Onyimadu, Eyong submitted that "Investing in childcare is not only about meeting the needs of children; it's about creating an ecosystem that allows women to thrive."

The Country Director of ILO, Dr Vanessa Phala, remarked that investing in care has been "shown to yield enormous economic and social returns."

Phala said "According to the ILO estimates, scaling investment in universal child care and long-term care services could generate about 300 million new jobs by 2025.

"This will have a significant share in terms of roles supporting women participation particularly in the formal sector."

The convener, Olufunmilayo Gombe, maintained that childcare is an economic issue, adding that the conference is poised to inspire new partnerships, spark creative ideas and reinforce the urgency of investing in childcare.