The funding call – which was launched in Geneva on Thursday – will be used to implement a three-phase program to provide immediate relief and support the longer-term recovery of jobs and businesses, as well as social protection.
“The hostilities have resulted – and continue to cause – both a tragic loss of life and an unprecedented loss of livelihoods, jobs, income, businesses and civilian infrastructure,” ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo said at the launch. which was held on the sidelines of the latest session of the agency’s governing body.
Economic activity paralyzed
The ILO has published a bulletin examining how the conflict – which broke out on October 7 – has so far affected the labor market and livelihoods in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), home to more than 3.4 million people, with a working population of more than 1.5 million.
The UN agency estimates that at least 61 percent of Gaza’s labor market has been wiped out; equivalent to 182,000 jobs. The conflict is also having spillover effects in the West Bank, where almost 24 percent of employment has also been lost, equivalent to 208,000 jobs. All told, this means $16 million in daily labor income has been lost.
Mr Houngbo outlined the devastation in Gaza. He said entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, infrastructure has been severely damaged, businesses have closed, there has been widespread internal displacement and the lack of water, food and fuel is crippling economic activity.
Workers stranded, trade restricted
In addition, nearly 6,000 residents who worked in Israel before the conflict are currently stranded in appalling conditions in the West Bank. UN health and aid workers on the ground are also in great danger.
Furthermore, entry measures imposed by Israel throughout the occupied Palestinian territories have effectively revoked entry rights, as workers and traders with valid permits cannot enter Israel and East Jerusalem through checkpoints.
Trade restrictions have also been imposed on essential goods moving from Israeli ports to the occupied Palestinian territories, further endangering the basic needs of families and the economy as a whole.
The situation threatens to deteriorate
Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2006, so conditions were particularly dire even before the conflict. The enclave has persistently high poverty and vulnerability rates and its unemployment rate – 46.4 percent in the second quarter of this year – is among the highest in the world.
“The already enormous losses identified by our research are only expected to increase as the conflict and tragic humanitarian crisis continue, with consequences that will be felt for many years to come,” warned ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat .
Help, analysis and recovery
The ILO response program aims to address the consequences of the crisis in three phases.
The first focuses on immediate relief and is already underway. It involves providing immediate assistance, such as emergency livelihood programs, to Palestinian workers, including Gaza residents now stranded in the West Bank after losing their jobs in Israel.
The ILO has already spent approximately $2 million of its internal resources on emergency response interventions and preliminary data collection. It is also working to allocate further resources to implement the response plan.
The second phase involves data collection and impact analysis to help plan, prioritize and refine interventions.
Recovery is central in the final phase. The focus will be on job creation through “employment-intensive infrastructure recovery” and other means, in addition to social protection measures and the recovery of jobs and businesses.