New support for Palestine Ta3mal online portal expected to match 2,000 additional youth with jobs in 2015.
Regional NGO Silatech,along with the International Youth Foundation (IYF), Microsoft Corporation and online jobs matching company Jobs.ps will join forces to assist greater numbers of young Palestinians seeking work. On January, 2015, representatives from Silatech and Jobs.ps signed an agreement in Ramallahto connect the regional employability tools of Ta3mal (www.ta3mal.com) with the local resources and job opportunities provided in Palestine by Jobs.ps, which serves more than 50,000 registered job seekers and almost 2,000 active employers in Palestine. This event builds on a previously signed agreement with the Palestinian Ministry of Labor (MoL) to establish collaboration and connect Ta3mal with the Ministry's 3amal portal.
Launched in April 2012 by Silatech and Microsoft, Ta3mal is a regional network of employability portals linking youth to career guidance, soft skills and entrepreneurship training, eLearning, as well as internships and entry level job opportunities. Ta3mal now has specialized country portals developed for Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Silatech and Microsoft are regional co-partners, while at the local level, 64 partners from the non-profit, educational, governmental and private sectors provide specialized content, job opportunities and access to services appropriate for each country.
In Palestine, Silatech and Microsoft are working in collaboration with the International Youth Foundation (IYF) to launch Ta3mal locally. Building on its extensive experience implementing the USAID-funded Youth Entrepreneurship Development Program, IYF works as a local partner for Ta3mal in Palestine, managing the day to day work of the portal and providing access to its extensive local network.
According to Rula Shunnar, Silatech Country Representative in Palestine and Jordan, "Youth unemployment is one of the most problematic and enduring challenges our region faces today, and the difficulty of finding a job is compounded in Palestine by the many restrictions the occupation places on physical movement. We believe technology provides the best way to empower young Palestinians, train them for the working world, and link them directly to job opportunities in spite of the challenges and restrictions on movement that they face."
According to Mr. Amjad Hamarsheh, CEO of Jobs.ps, the partnership between Jobs.ps, IYF, Silatech and Microsoft aims to strengthen and develop the youth's skills and provide them with new skills and expertise to increase their chances in obtaining jobs in their fields; it will also enhance the capacity of young people to start their own businesses and create job opportunities in the longrun. We hope that this partnership between Jobs.ps and all parties is the beginning for a future with integrated services provided by the Jobs.ps and Ta3mal platform.
Dr. Mohammed AlMbaid, Country Director for IYF in Palestine, saidthat"IYF is pleased to have Jobs.ps join the Palestine Ta3mal partnership, as it will help in consolidating services that Palestinian youth and the private sector need in one user-friendly and accessible location."
Youth unemployment in the Arab World stands at 28 percent--the highest of any region in the world. In Palestine, according to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, unemployment among Palestinian youth as of the first quarter of 2014 reached 39.5 percent.
The Silatech-Jobs.ps agreement will improve the user experience on both Ta3mal and Jobs.ps, providing visitors with seamless access to Ta3mal's employability resources as well as to work opportunities from Jobs.ps. Based on the current employment rates of Jobs.ps, it is estimated that over 2,000 additional young Palestinians will find jobs in 2015 as a result of the collaboration agreement.
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About Jobs.ps
Jobs.ps Ltd is a registered Palestinian company located in Ramallah. Since 2008 it has averaged around 500,000 visits per month, more than 50,000 registered job-seekers, with 30,000 uploaded CVs, around 22,000 posted jobs, and almost 3000 active employer accounts.
About Silatech
Silatech is a regional social initiative that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities for young Arabs. The organization promotes large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship, access to capital and markets, and the participation and engagement of young people in economic and social development. Since being founded in 2008 by Her Highness SheikhaMozabint Nasser, Silatech has financed over 78,000 youth-owned businesses, created or sustained over 134,000 jobs, and trained over 3,800 youth-focused NGO staff. Silatech currently has programs in 15 Arab countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. For more information, please visit www.silatech.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. For more information: www.microsoft.com/presspass.
About IYF
The International Youth Foundation invests in the extraordinary potential of young people. Founded in 1990, IYF builds and maintains a worldwide community of businesses, governments, and civil society organizations committed to empowering youth to be healthy, productive, and engaged citizens. IYF programs are catalysts for change that help young people obtain a quality education, gain employability skills, make healthy choices, and improve their communities. To learn more visit www.iyfnet.org.
© Press Release 2015
