Outcome PAL_D_1.1

SN Outcome 1. Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector (UNSDCF Outcome 1)

In 2024, national institutions, the Ministry of National Economy, Ministry of Finance, and the Palestine Monetary Authority, strengthened their capacity to promote women’s economic participation through the formal adoption of a gender-responsive national procedures guidance manual. With UN Women’s technical support, this reform contributed to standardized, non-discriminatory service provision and improved pathways for the formalization and registration of women-led businesses, including through streamlined processes and newly introduced tax incentives. Throughout 2025, UN Women supported these institutions to operationalize and expand the use of the guidance manual, reinforcing institutional accountability and embedding gender-responsive procedures across additional departments. This contributed to greater coherence and consistency in the delivery of services benefiting women entrepreneurs, despite the challenging economic context resulting from the war in Gaza and escalation in the West Bank. Complementing policy-level gains, UN Women strengthened women’s economic readiness and resilience by supporting 1,010 women, including 98 women with disabilities, to gain market-relevant skills and providing emergency income-stabilizing support to 4,542 women and girls. These combined outputs demonstrate that enabling policy reforms were matched by tangible improvements in women’s economic opportunities and adaptive capacity, advancing national efforts to create a more inclusive and enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment.

SN Outcome 1. Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector (UNSDCF Outcome 1)

Significant progress was made through UN Women programmes implemented in partnership with relevant ministries and local partners in Palestine. in 2024, 283 women accessed skill-matching livelihood opportunities, including cash for work in the West Bank and Gaza. This achievement was in line with the planned targets, demonstrating the positive impact of the interventions on women’s economic empowerment in the region. Two ministries, the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), provided technical assistance to support business development for women to own, launch, and better manage small, medium, and large enterprises. This included utilizing climate action and green solutions and information technology. As a result, 32 new women profiles representing businesses led by women from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza were integrated into the MoNE content database. Additionally, 85 women-led projects, including those involving women with disabilities, received in-kind grants during the second round of the grants fund established at MoNE under the Joint Programme. Furthermore, 527 women entrepreneurs of micro and very small projects benefited from technical trainings through MoNE, enhancing their business management skills and increasing their potential for success. UN Women contributed significantly to these outcomes through their programmes implemented in collaboration with relevant ministries and local partners. Their efforts included organizing skill-matching opportunities, providing technical assistance, facilitating the integration of women profiles into MoNE's database, coordinating the distribution of in-kind grants, and delivering technical trainings. These activities played a crucial role in achieving the programme's objectives. However, there were significant challenges faced during the implementation of these programmes. The war in Gaza had drastic effects on all aspects of the Palestinian economy. The informal economy and extreme measures increased during the crisis, while the unemployment rate in both the West Bank and Gaza soared. Additionally, production infrastructure was decimated during the war. The security situation also made it very difficult for the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and other formal bodies to fully assess the damage and measure the required economic indicators. Despite these challenges, the programmes managed to achieve their planned targets and had a positive impact on women's economic empowerment in Palestine.

SN Outcome 1. Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector (UNSDCF Outcome 1)

This outcome on track. Six institutions (3 governmental institutions and 3 private sector companies) put in place policies and practices to address gender-based discrimination and/or combat gender stereotypes. Additionally, 320 women increased their access to economic opportunities, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector as a result of Cash Based Interventions (CBI). The Ministry of National Economy developed a new national economy strategic plan for the years 2024-2029 from a gender perspective with the support of the national gender expert hired by UN Women and as per the Prime Minister’s office’s guidance. The Ministry of National Economy (MoNE), Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) worked on difference policies that address gender stereotypes. A collaborative effort between the governmental partners of the JP, namely MoNE, MoF and PMA, resulted in the development and finalization of a guidance manual for partner services' procedures. This initiative aims to kickstart the implementation process of policies and policy tools established within the stimulus packages of these ministries. It is noteworthy that 12 policy tools were conclusively formulated in coordination with MoNE and MoF during 2022 and 2023, all of which received official approval, accompanied by the formulation of implementation plans. MoNE has originated and facilitated a national business registration process and access of services for businesses led by women, youth, and people with disabilities, to fill an existing gap for women in Palestine through issuing new instructions which were endorsed in September 2023 by the Minister as part of the newly developed policies, and are immediately implemented, this step is expected to increase the percentage of registered business by a minimum of 10% in normal circumstances. As part of its commitment to supporting the platform, 90 women beneficiaries have increased capacities to promote their products from the ‘guidance for professional photography using mobile phones’ developed by MoNE as part of supporting the e-souq platform. This guidance and training took place as part of the financial & technical support of the e-souq platform, within the framework of the signed agreement between UN Women and MoNE, and as a result of the continuous technical support by the national gender expert hired by UN Women. MoNE has integrated 300 profiles representing businesses led by women from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza into the content database of the newly developed electronic service, the E-Souq platform. Business models were developed for three economic sectors: the crafts sector, the food processing, and information technology, through conducting a business model study and guidelines for the principles of women’s empowerment by MoNE, to stimulate the private sector to join WEPs and implement the principles, and to enhance the implementation of the corporate law led by MoNE from a gender perspective. Moreover, four WEPs signatories have implemented their GEWE commitments under the overall framework of the WEPs (BoP, Vitas, The Arab Islamic Bank and APIC). Signatories activated the policies that were developed with the support of UN Women related to flexible working hours and work-life balance during the year and especially after the break of the war in Gaza. The JP supported this implementation through providing on-the-job technical guidance and advice on plan and policy development. T hirteen corporate members of the WEPs signatories in Palestine raised their employees’ awareness on Sexual Harassment in the Word of Work, through a virtual training conducted by an international expert hired by the UN Women Regional Office through the JP during September 2023, were 14 participants attended this training (9 women and 5 men) from APIC company, PAC, Siniora, NAPCO, Qudra, Oyoun Media, Dar Noora, Nuseibeh & Sons Co, Vitas, Oxford English Centre, Palestine Investment Fund, Alpha International for Research, Polling and Informatics and the Palestine Monetary Authority. Over 100 women business owners, particularly those in micro- and very small enterprises in the West Bank, have acquired comprehensive knowledge regarding the facilities, incentives, and services offered by MoNE, MoF, and PMA, with the technical and financial support of the JP. This knowledge encompasses areas such as procurement, licenses, fees, taxes, and financial services, disseminated through a series of three distinct workshops strategically targeting women from all governorates and cities in the West Bank. The overarching objective of these awareness workshops is to empower women business owners to effectively utilize the services provided, protect their products, and ensure the sustainability of their projects. A group of 43 youth women and men (19 from the WB and 24 from Gaza) have been capacitated by a UN Women hired company through a three day specialized training to develop and implement initiatives and interventions for lobbying and advocacy for the economic rights of women and youth. Six initiatives have been designed with the technical support of the specialized consultancy company, focusing on engaging men and boys in gender equality. The initiatives were designed to improve the recognition of women’s economic role, the value of unpaid care work, and fairer distribution of unpaid care work.