August 2016

HEAdlines

Main reports: The unemployment rate (among labour force participants) in Palestine reached 26.9% in Q2 2016, an increase from 26.6% in Q1 2016 and from 24.8% in Q2 2015.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in association with the Palestinian Ministry of Labour, signed an agreement on 28 July to provide $5m to help stimulate Gaza’s stagnant economy and labour market.

The housing sector requires $3bn of investment between 2015 and 2020 in order to build and rehabilitate 30,000 Palestinian housing units in East Jerusalem, according to a working paper presented by the Palestinian Housing Council (PHC).

Deputy Minister of Labour, Mr. Nasser Qatami, met with representatives of the National Campaign for Social Security in the Ministry’s headquarters in Ramallah on 26 July 2016, to continue the dialogue on the proposed amendments to the Social Security Law.