ILO/95/27
GENEVA (ILO News) - Employment problems in Gaza and the West Bank are acute and getting worse, says the International Labour Office (ILO), warning that the exceptional growth of the Palestinian labour force in a shrinking job market is putting the peace process under tremendous pressure.
"The risks of social havoc undermining prospects for lasting peace in the region will soon become overwhelming unless jobs are created urgently and on a large scale", says ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne. "This should now be considered a top priority."
At the invitation of the Israeli Government and the Palestinian National Authority, Mr. Hansenne is travelling to Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank on a 6-day visit beginning December 5 to assess the progress achieved by an ILO-led drive to help the Palestinian Authority to establish a Department of Labour and basic social services and to assist in the economic reintegration of thousands of former detainees.
The ILO has designed and is promoting a package of 30 capacity-building projects for a total value of some US$ 95 million. Of this sum, more than US$ 20 million in donor funding has been secured as a result of ILO efforts, and most of it is being channelled directly to the Palestinian National Authority.
The number of Palestinians aged 15 or older and either employed or actively seeking work has reached an estimated 400,000 and continues to grow at an annual rate of nearly 10 per cent, according to the latest available data. This figure however is generally acknowledged to be an underestimation. It fails to reflect the true extent of women's economic activities or to take into account Palestinian workers not now considered part of the labour force. These include thousands of political prisoners still to be released and tens of thousands of workers unsure of their future in other countries. Their return would add instant pressure on the labour market.
While labour supply has risen continuously in recent years, unemployment rates have significantly increased. In the West Bank and Gaza today, less than one third of the people working are employed in regular, wage-paying jobs. The remainder are self-employed or involved in unpaid family work and are typically underemployed. Low-productivity, informal-sector activities are expanding rapidly.
Jobs for Gaza and West Bank residents in Israel have also become scarce. Their average number has varied over the years, owing essentially to the prevailing security situation. It reached a peak of 115,600 in 1992, representing 36 per cent of Palestinians employed at that time. This number fell to 84,000 in 1993 and never reached more than 47,000 in 1994. Figures for 1995 are incomplete, but just 27,000 work permits had been issued through May.
Wages earned by Palestinians in Israel have also declined sharply, from US$ 930 million in 1992 to US$ 586 million in 1993 and US$ 485 million in 1994.
During 1994, depending on whether or not workers had access to jobs in Israel, the unemployment rate varied between 16.8 and 33.3 per cent in Gaza and between 10.7 and 29.7 per cent in the West Bank.
The ILO Programme of Action
Shortly after the September 1993 signing of the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles (the Oslo agreements), Chairman Yasser Arafat asked the ILO to formulate a "blueprint" for the development of the social sector in the occupied territories. Several technical missions ensued following which a Programme of Action was drawn up by the ILO and endorsed by the PLO. Embodying 30 projects, the programme identifies several priority areas, among them:
Rehabilitation of ex-detainees - Over 80,000 Palestinians have been arrested for politically-related offences and detained for over six months since 1987. Thousands are still held in Israeli prisons and military detention centres. Seen as a key to the process of social healing and political reconciliation, the successful reintegration of this target population has been assigned the highest priority.
The project focuses in the first instance on the 12,000 most needy ex-detainees. All are to be provided with medical care and health insurance, then given counselling and job-search assistance. Training or retraining are offered as are formal education opportunities, business start-up support and wage-subsidies paid to private-sector employers. In all, 14 employment offices will be opened for this purpose throughout Gaza and the West Bank. To date, more than half this project's US$ 30 million budget has been secured. The programme is being carried out by the Palestinian National Authority.
Establishment of a Department of Labour and Vocational Training - Launched in December 1994, the initial phase of this project has provided training to the staff of the new Department of Labour as well as some start-up assistance (furniture and equipment). Pilot employment offices have been opened in Gaza and Jericho. The ILO is also helping the Department to draft a new Labour Code.
Support to the system of Labour and Social Statistics - A preliminary but essential step towards the development of effective employment policies must be the collection of reliable statistical information. The ILO has provided expertise in the field of labour and employment statistics and helped the newly established Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics to develop a five-year master plan prescribing semi-annual labour surveys measuring employment and unemployment and gathering information on wages and informal sector activities. The first such survey was launched in September 1995.
Labour-intensive public works - ILO experts have formulated a plan designed to alleviate short-term unemployment problems and lay the foundations for more sustainable employment in the future by using labour-intensive methods for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of essential community infrastructure. Projects include the tiling and paving of streets and sidewalks as well as the rehabilitation of schools and clinics.
Other projects for which funds are being sought or have already been secured include:
Palestinian Employment Programme - In cooperation with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the ILO will assist in implementing a comprehensive employment programme focusing on three objectives: ensuring sustainable employment opportunities for the 255,000 workers now employed in the West Bank and Gaza; finding employment and income opportunities for some 115,000 Palestinians currently unemployed; creating policies designed to absorb the increasing labour supply during the next decade. The $1.3 million programme is under consideration by the international donor community, and the PNA has attached a high degree of importance to the project.
Establishment of a Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for people with disabilities - The ILO obtained a US$ 2 million contribution from His Highness Shakh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (UAE) for the establishment of a Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for disabled persons.
Production of low-cost wheel chairs employing disabled workers - With a US$ 1 million contribution from Shaikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah (UAE), the ILO has assisted in the design and construction of low-cost wheel chairs appropriate to the sandy and rocky conditions common to the region. Production has started in workshops in Gaza, Nablus and Ramallah.
Capacity building for the Palestinian Federation of Chambers of Commerce - Results to date include the drafting of a constitution for the Chambers of commerce and for their Federation, the training of senior staff in the use of computer and information services and the purchase of computerized systems for ten different chambers.
Support to Palestinian Trade Unions - Training seminars for trade union leaders have been organized in Gaza, Nablus and in the ILO's International Training Centre in Turin, Italy. These efforts, which have been under way since early 1994, aim at building the capacity of Palestinian trade unions to organize workers' education programmes.
Training for small contractors - With funding from the Government of Kuwait, the project aims to provide technical and managerial training to private contractors. working on the basis of a labour-intensive approach. A pilot project covering 25 local contractors in Gaza will aim to establish local capacity to conduct training programmes while providing technical advice and guidance, notably using labour-intensive methods, and improving the delivery capacity of local contractors' associations.
Integrated small-enterprise development at the Palestinian Chambers of Commerce - This $2.9 million project is designed to establish a capacity for integrated small enterprises promotion at the Federation and 5 local Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. The goal is to encourage employment via small enterprise creation. The Italian authorities, who provided $1 million in initial funding, have fielded a joint technical mission with ILO.