Economic Stimulus and Support to Vulnerable Households in Gaza through Cash for Work

Reham is a 26 year old English teacher from Gaza who now has a job through the C4D programme, after being unemployed since 2016. © UNDP/PAPP – Shareef Sarhan

Project Summary

The project aims to address the rapidly worsening unemployment situation in the Gaza Strip (52%), particularly amongst the youth (69%). Women are disproportionately affected, with 75% unemployed overall, and figures for young women close to 90%. The project, worth US$7 million, is funded by the Government of Qatar through the Qatari Gaza Reconstruction Committee.

Through the project, UNDP works with partners to empower youth, women and marginalised groups by skilling them and creating immediate job opportunities. The approach is to identify dignified jobs to fill gaps in key sectors (including the public sector), thereby ensuring essential services are provided to the communities. The beneficiaries will work for a period of 3-6 months in different sectors, namely: education, health, agriculture, public works, housing, municipal, media and the private sector.

The emphasis is on youth and vulnerable groups. A total of 3,516 people, including persons with disabilities and women, are targeted for the initial project period. Around 462,675 work days will be created.

Accomplishments and Progress

Target Group Sector Number
Rate Per Month (US$) Contracted as of May 2019
Unskilled Agriculture, public works, factories 1070 270 763
Skilled Agriculture, public works, factories 327 380 269
Graduates Humanitarian, health, education, social and cultural 1769 380 1,572
Fresh Graduates Internships with private sector entities and other institutions 350 260 68

Through the project 2,672 youth have been contracted (as of May 2019), and 47,648 work days have been created as per the table above.

Geographic Coverage: Gaza Strip
Partners: Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection for Workers (PFESP), Gaza Culture and Development Group Association (GCDG), Beit Hanoun Cooperative Association, Palestinian Federation of Industries (PFI), Syndicate of Fishermen and Workers in Fishing and Fish Farming (SFWF)
Sustainable Development Goal/s: No Poverty, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth
Project Manager: Tarik Chatat, Project Manager
Contact: 00970-59-9864277, Email: tarik.chatat@undp.org
Other Documents: Project Fact Sheet