Partners pledge support to ILO’s Palestinian labour market recovery programme

GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (lLO) and its development partners reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the resilience and recovery of the Palestinian labour market at a meeting held on Monday 10 June, on the sidelines of the International Labour Conference (ILC).

Partners pledged financial and other forms of support for the ILO’s response to the war in Gaza and the unprecedented social and economic crisis it has precipitated across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

The ILO response focuses on three pillars; immediate relief, assessing the impact of the war on the labour market, and early recovery. ILO’s response is in line with the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and builds on the wider context of the United Nation's relief and early recovery programming.

ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, said the devastating impact of the war in the Gaza Strip on Palestinian workers and employers requires an immediate labour market response that must be delivered alongside the humanitarian response.

“It is important to lay the groundwork for a prosperous and inclusive recovery now, despite the many immediate needs. Priming the labour market to support and sustain a strong recovery will be crucial,” Houngbo said.

Job creation, social protection and restoring businesses are all crucial to immediate war recovery efforts, Houngbo said when addressing development partners, ILO and other UN officials, and worker, government and employer representatives at the meeting.

The world of work has a crucial contribution to make to peace building and realizing social justice, he added, and the ILO is best placed to respond to the labour market impact of the crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Because we bring together governments, employers, and workers, our discussions and initiatives reflect their collective aspirations, and therefore the needs of the real economy,” Houngbo explained.

Sigrid Kaag, the UN’s Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, and the UN Resident Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Muhannad Hadi, also addressed the meeting, highlighting the integral role of decent work, jobs and income in the wider UN response to the crisis in the OPT.

The numerous development partners present at the meeting expressed their commitment and support for the ILO’s US$20 million appeal for the plan’s recovery pillar. Work under this pillar focuses on creating jobs in labour-intensive works to repair and build infrastructure and restore basic services. It also includes social protection measures, including unemployment benefit schemes and allowances for the most vulnerable, such as those with severe disabilities. The recovery pillar will also restore businesses and create jobs through enabling access to markets and finance.

The governments of Belgium and Kuwait, whose representatives co-convened the meeting with the ILO Director-General, and those of Indonesia, the Netherlands and Qatar, announced contributions to the ILO’s recovery response amounting to more than US$8 million, with many other partners expressing their forthcoming support.

“Decent work for all is a key priority for Belgium and we appreciate ILO’s efforts in bringing us all together to contribute towards job creation and early recovery of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Belgium has made a contribution of €1 million to the ILO and looks forward to working more closely with the ILO as well as other partners to effectively address the challenges that the region faces today,” explained Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

“Today's meeting was a crucial step towards addressing the urgent needs in Palestine. Kuwait stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine and is committed to provide necessary humanitarian support for an effective emergency response,” said Naser Abdullah H. M. Alahayen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Netherlands also announced a contribution to the ILO’s recovery response.

“The Netherlands is contributing USD 4.3 million to the ILO's Emergency Response Plan for the West Bank and Gaza, aiming to support early economic recovery and alleviate suffering. Together, we can make a meaningful impact,” said Paul Bekkers, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Eight months of war in Gaza have had a devastating impact on the labour market and the economy in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Latest figures released by the ILO and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimate unemployment to have now reached more than 79 per cent in Gaza and 32 per cent in the West Bank, and GDP to have shrunk by 83.5 per cent in Gaza and 22.7 per cent in the West Bank.

Through the Emergency Response Plan the ILO has so far supported more than 9,000 Palestinian workers from Gaza who were stranded in the West Bank when they were expelled from jobs in Israel, and facilitated the transportation of 130 containers, owned by businesses in Gaza and held at Israeli ports, to the West Bank. The ILO has partnered with PCBS to collect and analyse vital data issued in a series of bulletins on the impact of the war on the Palestinian labour market and economy. The ILO has also partnered with United Nations Development Programme to pilot an emergency employment programme in Gaza providing decent jobs to Palestinian women and men in the health sector and solid waste management.