Gaza City – Since her <a href="https://news.ad-astra.icu/gaza-graduates-urge-unrwa-to-address-soaring-unemployment-rate.html” title=”Gaza graduates urge UNRWA to address soaring unemployment rate”>graduation 10 years ago, Amal Shanioura has been searching for a suitable job opportunity in business administration, but has had no success.
The 32-year-old’s frustration took her last week to a protest in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA), where demonstrators demanded the body provide more job opportunities in Gaza, and an end to the blockade imposed on the enclave by Israel.
Dozens of graduates participated in the protest, raising slogans denouncing the deteriorating economic situation and the lack of job opportunities amid a sharp rise in the Gaza unemployment rate, which, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, is higher than 45 percent. The United Nations has said that 81 percent of the population is living in poverty.
Youth unemployment statistics, which cover 19 to 29-year-olds, are particularly stark when it comes to comparing the occupied West Bank to Gaza – 32 percent in the West Bank are unemployed, compared with 70 percent in Gaza.
“Like any graduate, I volunteered in several places and institutions related to my specialty to no avail,” Shanioura told Al Jazeera. “I also worked in some jobs intermittently, but they soon ended and I rejoined the ranks of unemployment.”
“As a citizen, I have the right to obtain a suitable job opportunity, especially from UNRWA, which offers permanent or temporary employment programmes for graduates.”
Source from www.aljazeera.com