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In the midst of conflict, 'Engaging Youth' helps Palestine refugee youth realize their potential

13 July 2015

Four years of conflict have decimated the Syrian national economy, which has contracted by US$ 202.6 billion since 2011. This year, unemployment is predicted to rise to over 60 per cent, with youth joblessness soaring to over 70 per cent. Battered by displacement, impoverishment and insecurity, young people are also losing traditional pathways into the workforce as infrastructure and industry collapse.

The UNRWA Engaging Youth project, generously funded by the EU, helps Palestine refugee youth aged between 18 and 33 develop vocational skills to increase their employability in this new and uncertain market. Increasingly, this means developing a capacity for entrepreneurship and encouraging young people to seek out opportunities for innovation and self-employment. Since 2011, thousands of Palestine refugee youth have completed courses in diverse subjects including plumbing, electrics, graphic design, hairdressing and information technology. 

Four years of brutal conflict in Syria have resulted in the near collapse of the economy and have had a devastating effect on Palestine refugees and Syrians alike. Most remaining job opportunities are confined to small-scale businesses in the informal economy. Damascus. © 2014 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadSyria’s economy and infrastructure have been devastated. A recent UN report found that the country’s economy has lost US$ 202.6 billion since 2011. Yarmouk, Damascus. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid Mohammad Displacement has compounded the impoverishment of Palestine refugees, who have left behind their incomes and livelihoods. More than 50 per cent of the 480,000 Palestine refugees remaining in Syria have fled their homes at least once. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid Mohammad Economic contraction, electricity cuts, interrupted water supply, broken supply chains and soaring inflation have destroyed local economies. More than 95 per cent of Palestine refugees in Syria now rely on UNRWA for their daily humanitarian needs. Qabr Essit, Damascus. © 2014 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadPrior to the conflict, many Palestine refugees were employed as local contractors, shopkeepers and unskilled labourers in their neighbourhoods, trades which have largely disappeared as a result of the collapsing economy and population displacement. © 2014 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadThe EU-funded Engaging Youth project run by UNRWA provides Palestine refugee youth with practical skills to increase their employability in Syria’s changing employment market. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadIn 2014, 67.7 per cent of the 5,678 young Palestine refugees who completed youth development courses were female. These courses are designed to give students skills for volunteerism in the face of reduced employment opportunities. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadEngaging Youth courses cover professional, trade and creative fields, including graphic and interior design. Young men practice their drafting skills on a light box at the Damascus Training Centre. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid MohammadIncreasingly, Engaging Youth helps Palestine youth identify and seek out opportunities for self-employment. Sixty-one of the 395 refugees who completed a course in business planning, 50 per cent of whom were female, have now started up their own enterprise. © 2015 UNRWA Photo by Taghrid Mohammad

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