RAMALLAH - Japan and UNESCO launch project to support livelihoods and economic recovery across Palestine.

The Government of Japan and UNESCO signed an arrangement to support livelihoods and early recovery by delivering accelerated, labour -market-relevant skills training for crisis-affected youth aged 15 and above in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The project will be implemented over a 12-month period in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education as well as the Ministry of Labor.

As part of the project, a temporary learning space and vocational training unit will be equipped and operationalized to deliver accelerated training sessions using in-person and hybrid modalities. These sessions will be underpinned by adapted curricula and learning resources, capacity building for instructors, and a combination of work-oriented training cycles. In parallel, structured mental health and psychosocial support will be integrated and delivered to participants to reduce barriers to inclusion, improve wellbeing, and strengthen readiness to learn and work.

This project will build upon UNESCO's existing network of temporary learning spaces for youth in the Gaza Strip, while contributing to its broader efforts to ensure the continuity of safe, inclusive, and quality learning and sustainable skills development across Palestine.

The partnership with Japan was formalized at a signing ceremony in Ramallah by H.E. Araike Katsuhiko, Ambassador for the Palestinian Affairs and Representative of Japan to Palestine and Ms. Sarah El Attar, UNESCO Ramallah's Chief of Education on behalf of the UNESCO Representative Mr. Karim Hendili . The ceremony was attended by high-level officials, including H.E. Dr. Amjad Barham, Minister of Education and Higher Education, H.E. Dr. Enas Attari, Minister of Labor, H.E. Kano Takehiro, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO, and Mr. Ramon Iriarte, acting Chief of Section for Youth, Literacy and Skills Development at UNESCO Headquarters.