Gaza launches job creation programme

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts announced by the agency outside its offices in Gaza City on 29 July, 2018 [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]

The Palestinian Ministry of Labour yesterday launched a job creation programme which will employ 5,000 unemployed between 18 and 34 years within three years, Safa news agency reported.

The $17 million programme, called “Gaza Emergency – Money for Work”, is funded by the World Bank and carried out by Palestinian NGOs in cooperation with the labour, financial and social welfare ministries.

Labour Minister Mamoun Abu-Shahla said it is funded by the World Bank because of the increasing poverty and unemployment rate in Gaza, which were a direct outcome of the Israeli siege.

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He cited information from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics pointing out that there are 400,000 unemployed Palestinians, including 220,000 in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the 320,000 families living under the poverty line.

Gaza has been under a strict Israeli siege for more than 12 years causing the unemployment rate among its university graduates to reach 53 per cent.

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