Project Summary

Youth represent over 30% of the Palestinian population. Gaza’s population (43% under the age of 15) is surpassing the two million mark, with a young labour force increasing by 4.5% per year. With limited economic opportunities, the majority of new entrants to the labour market, estimated at 35,000 annually, are becoming unemployed. Youth unemployment in Gaza is one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, at a staggering 60%.

Under the Immediate Support to Gaza Resilience through Rapid Employment Project, funded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), GGateway is implementing a five-week training programme that targets 170 graduates, during which beneficiaries will be prepared to start working as freelancers.

The training programme includes two weeks of technical training, two weeks of online freelancing training, and one week of employability skills training.
The technical training will focus on five main areas: (1) WordPress Development, (2) React Native (Mobile), (3) Digital Marketing, (4) Graphic Design, and (5) Translation.

Following the five-week training programme, the top 80 achievers during the training period will be hosted inside GGateway’s co-working space (GHub) for three months. During the three months of hosting, beneficiaries will receive technical and freelancing mentoring from in-house coaches, in addition to specialized career-path counselling. The hosted beneficiaries will have access to dedicated workspaces, in addition to online learning resources based on their specific needs. The purpose of the hosting phase is for beneficiaries to transfer the acquired knowledge in training into skill sets in the freelancing world and hence qualify to generate income remotely.

GGateway will also conduct five promotional workshops in five different educational institutes around the Gaza Strip.

Accomplishments and Progress

• 1,177 complete applications (42% male / 58% female) were received by GGateway, following the announcement.

1. 75% of training applications received were from unemployed graduates
2. 72% of training applications received were from refugees
3. 48% of training applications received were from people who are fully or partially responsible for their families

• Initial screening and filtering processes were completed. Lists of beneficiaries are ready for exams and interviews.

• A Request for Proposals (RFP) for a company to provide the training component, under UNDP and GGateway’s supervision, was advertised on 05 November 2018, and ten bids were received.