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)

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.

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)

The ongoing Crisis has had drastic effects on all aspects of the Palestinian economy. informal economy and extreme measures has increased during the crisis, unemployment rate both in the West Bank and Gaza soared and production infrastructure dissemated during the war. the fragile ceasefire needs to continue and Israeli military operations in the West Bank has to stop before an actual assessment of the damages can be conducted.