LocationsUNDP, with funds from the Governments of Norway and Switzerland, Launch the Gaza Economic Resilience Programme
July 12, 2023
From the launching of Gaza Economic Resilience Programme
The United Nations Development Programme and the Governments of Norway and Switzerland - through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC- launched a 4-year, US$ 14.5 million, programme in support of inclusive economic opportunities and economic resilience in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip is facing alarming socio-economic and financial challenges that have led to high unemployment rates and de-development. In the Gaza Strip, 53% of Gazans live in poverty, 45.9% of Gaza’s population is unemployed, including 73.9% of its youth (young women 82%) and more than 75% of the people rely on humanitarian aid.
The multi-year programme will not only support employment generation for Gazans; it will also contribute to MSMEs development and enhance the enabling environment to ensure the investment is responding to the needs and challenges of the local economy.
Thomas Jenatsch, Deputy Head of International Cooperation at Swiss Cooperation, outlined, “Switzerland is confident that this programme will foster private sector growth, create sustainable jobs for women and youth and ultimately contribute to reducing the aid dependency of Gazans.”
From the launching of Gaza Economic Resilience Programme
Under the programme components supported by SDC, UNDP will collaborate with the private sector companies with the highest potential for import substitution and local employment generation. A comprehensive approach is developed to identify 80 small and medium-sized enterprises from a number of sectors with a potential for growth in the local market.
The UNDP Deputy Special Representative of the Administrator, Chitose Noguchi, highlighted the comprehensive and long-term nature of the Programme: “UNDP is committed to strengthening the economic resilience of the Palestinian people by improving conditions for inclusive economic development and equitable access to economic opportunities. The focus is on MSME development and decent job creation leading to sustainable employment in Gaza. This is reflected in the Transformative Resilience approach, which is at the core of our new Palestinian Programmatic Framework 2023-2025.”.
Furthermore, the programme aims to enhance the enabling environment for private sector development. UNDP and its partners will advocate for positive changes in the import and export policies from and to Gaza.
The programme will also generate employment opportunities for youth in various sectors. With Norway’s contribution, around 2360 Gazans will be employed in private and public sectors, including health, education, public facilities, and productive sectors, and 395 people will also benefit from technical vocational training. Moreover, 410 beneficiaries will improve their technical and freelancing skills, required in the digital sector. Furthermore, 180 beneficiaries will be trained in business development and management, with support provided to 60 micro and small enterprises.
The programme will be implemented in partnership with the Palestinian Federation of Industries, PalTrade, Gaza Culture and Development Group, Women’s Affairs Centre, GGateway, the Palestinian Employment Fund and other sectoral associations.
For further information, please contact:
The SDC
Ghassan al Jamal
Ghassan.jamal@eda.admin.ch
The United Nations Development Programme:
Musa Khalil, Communications Analyst, E-mail: musa.khalil@undp.org., Tel: +972 6268200, Mobile: +972 5748761 For more information on UNDP/PAPP visit www.ps.undp.org
