Graduates of Gaza universities demand jobs

A number of university graduates protested in front of the ministry of labour in Gaza last month, preventing Labour Minister Mamoun Abu Shahla from entering the building. They were demanding solutions to the unemployment crisis, writes Hana Salah for Al-Monitor.

Earlier in the year, on 28 January, unemployed university graduates formed a committee to promote their rights to employment in the public sector. Committee spokesman Shadi al-Naqla told Al-Monitor that the ongoing Palestinian division and failure to achieve true reconciliation, in addition to the Israeli blockade, are making the already poor economic situation worse.

On 22 January, an Al Mezan Center for Human Rights study on unemployment in Gaza indicated that political changes in the Gaza Strip contributed to increasing unemployment rates, which hit a staggering 46.6% in 2017, exceeding 60% among the youth, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The study noted that the number of graduates from higher education institutions for the 2016-17 year in the Gaza Strip amounted to 21,508; 11,601 of them are men and 9,907 women. Currently enrolled students number 85,660.
Full report on the Al-Monitor site