clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Qatar charity provides jobs for over 50,000 Palestinians 

July 7, 2021 at 3:58 pm

A Palestinian boy waves the Qatari and Palestinian flags on February 8, 2021 [SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images]

Qatar Charity (QC) has hired more than 50,000 Palestinian graduates and creatives remote jobs through its ‘Taqat’ initiative.

Described as one of the world’s “unique humanitarian initiatives,” the initiative aims to alleviate the burden of unemployment, improve the economic situation of Palestinian families and strengthen the role of creative youth in need of work, Qatar News Agency reported.

It’s part of a recent ‘Palestine Relief’ campaign launched by QC to support Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 40,000 Palestinians graduate from higher education institutes every year however, most are unemployed due to limited work opportunities.

Earlier this year, the World Bank confirmed more than 66,000 Palestinian employees lost their jobs last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, leading to an increase in the unemployment rate which reached 27.8 per cent.

READ: Israel’s deliberate damage of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip

The total number of employees in the labour market dropped from 951,000 in 2019 to 884,00 in 2020.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, unemployment is now at 50 per cent and 60 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line.

The Israeli onslaught on Gaza last month destroyed much of the enclave’s infrastructure including health and educational facilities, roads, residential buildings, as well as power generation and water supplies.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that the recent Israeli aggression displaced more than 75,000 Palestinians from their homes, with 28,700 of them taking refuge in the agency’s schools, either because of the demolition of their homes, or to escape the bombing.