European Bank for Reconstruction and Development addressing youth unemployment in West Bank and Gaza

November 7, 2019
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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and its co-investors the Palestine Investment Fund, Semilla de Olivo and FMO (the Netherlands Development Finance Company) are financing the first Palestinian employment-development impact bond to address high levels of youth unemployment in the West Bank and Gaza.

The project will provide professional training for more than 1,000 young Palestinians to support their transition into sustainable employment.

The investors will provide upfront funding to the project, while the outcome funders, the World Bank and the Palestinian Authority, will repay them if and when the training and employment results are achieved. The project raised US$ 1.8 million in investment and US$ 5.0 million in outcome funds.

Private sector organisations will provide training, starting in 2020. They will focus initially on employment opportunities in the healthcare sector, as well as in the industrial and construction sector. Additional training will be rolled out according to market needs, with the goal of delivering sustainable employment outcomes by late 2021.

In 2017, the EBRD started investing in the West Bank and Gaza. To date, five projects have been signed for a total amount of US$ 18 million.

 

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Press Release

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Countries covered:

  • Palestine *