Gaza Launches Employment Program for 5,000 People

Gaza, MINA – Palestinian Ministry of Labor on Monday, launched a program to create jobs that would employ 5,000 unemployed between the ages of 18 and 34 in three years, Safa News Agency reported.

The 17 million dollar program, called “Gaza Emergency – Money for Work”, funded by the World Bank and implemented by Palestinian NGOs in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower, Social Welfare and Finance.

Minister of Manpower Mamoun Abu-Shahla said the program was funded by the World Bank due to increasing poverty and unemployment in Gaza, which was a result of the Israeli blockade.

He cited information from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics which showed there were 400,000 unemployed Palestinians, including 220,000 in the Gaza Strip and 320,000 families living below the poverty line.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for more than 12 years which has caused the unemployment rate among university graduates to reach 53 percent. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)