©FAO/Jake Pelini

Jerusalem, 5 Sept 2022 – Today The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) finalized partnerships with five Palestinian universities to provide more than 800 local youth with entrepreneurship courses aimed at enhancing their employment opportunities in the agrifood sector. 

The project will be open to students in their final semester as well as recent unemployed graduates from Hebron University, An Najah National University, Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie, Al Quds Open University—West Bank and Al Quds University. It is part of a larger initiative funded by Denmark that is enabling youth in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to capitalize on emergent “green” employment and income opportunities available in the agri-food system. 

More than half of Palestine’s population is aged 24 or younger. Local youth face significant barriers to work: More than one in four youth in the West Bank are unemployed. 

In response, from 2022–24 FAO is supporting 840 youth from the five universities in enrolling in courses focused on starting and running a small agribusiness enterprise. Topics will include professional character building, agribusiness plan development; effective financial and resource management; marketing, with an emphasis on e-marketing; communications, team building and leadership; and gender equity. The Organization will facilitate internship opportunities for 480 high-performing trainees in cooperation with a large number of private sector agri-food actors. 

FAO will also provide investment support to up to 60 youth who present achievable business plans for sustainable enterprises. Women will make up at least half the participants in all the activities. 

In parallel, the project is partnering with the Ministry of Labour to improve local vocational training centres’ curricula and capacities to offer market-oriented practical courses targeting young women and men. By the end of the project, FAO will support the centres in implementing trainings for more than 110 currently unemployed youth which are tailored to fill skills gaps highlighted by employers during the assessment. 

“We are proud to be able to continue and expand this programme in partnership with Denmark. This project follows the completion last year of a pilot initiative funded by Denmark that improved sustainable job prospects for 400 youth through targeted trainings; facilitated internships for 272 students; and provided investment support to help 24 youth start sustainable small businesses in sectors such as honey production, fruit and vegetable farming and quail egg and meat production”, said Dr. Azzam Ayasa, FAO Head of Programme for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.