Improving the labour market

Project description

Title: Programme ‘Access to the Labour Market’ – PALM
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Palestinian territories
Lead executing agency: Palestinian Ministry of Labour
Overall term​​​​​​​: 2019 to 2022

Context

Almost a third of the labour force in the Palestinian territories are unemployed. The situation is particularly pronounced for young people between the ages of 20 and 24, roughly half of them  are unemployed. Although many women are well-educated, only around 19 per cent of them are in work.

As things stand,  58,000 jobs  have to be created now  to respond to  the need of the Palestinian labour market . This demand is set to grow by around another 30 per cent by 2050 as a result of demographic developments in the territories. The Palestinian economy, which is extremely dependent on the Israeli market and international donors, is currently unable to cope with this overwhelming surge in the workforce. Furthermore, employment conditions in many companies are poor, so employee  turnover is high. At the same time, many young graduates  are not equipped with the needed qualifications for the labour market by the employers  resulting in tedious occupation of the few available vacancies. Despite  these challenges, labour market policy must play a key role in Palestine.

Objective

Labour market policy has improved to meet the needs of jobseekers and companies alike.

Approach

The program advises local  employment and TVET councils (LETC) on introducing local labour market monitoring. The generated region-specific information will support to better steer the labour market and implement labour market policy measures.  . The program  also provides capacity development measures  for employment offices, chambers and other service providers to help them implement and further develop needs-based labour market services, according to the target groups and beneficiaries. This includes career advice, placement/matching activities and the  provision of information digitally. At the same time, ,  the collaboration with vocational schools and business associations are promoted. The program  is also improving the range of services for start-up promotion and self-employment   to bring more people into employment.

Last update: October 2022