2016-07-27

Al-Zaytun

Human Rights Defenders / Gaza

A workshop titled “The Phenomenon of Unemployment and the Right to Employment” was carried-out by MUSAWA and the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders Network (PHRDs) in Al-Zaytun Sport Club, located in Al-Zaytun neighborhood, east of the city of Gaza.

The workshop was attended by 17 participants, 10 of whom were females. It aimed at spreading the culture of human rights in marginalized regions and communities, introducing the community to the existence and importance of the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders Network (PHRDs), disseminating its goals and mission in order to include new individuals and institutions as members, raising legal awareness, and enabling community groups to defend their rights and realize the legal tools and mechanisms available to protect these rights.

Lawyer Mustafa Al-Dous, a member of the PHRDs Network, lectured in the workshop, where he made reference to the Palestinian Basic Law; the Palestinian Labor Law No. (7) for the year 2000; a number of international laws including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

The workshop addressed several topics: unemployment in Palestine in general, particularly in Gaza; the causes, results, consequences, and means of solving unemployment; the difference between unemployment and working for wages lower that the minimum wage; and the right to employment according to domestic legislation as well as international laws and conventions.

At the end of the workshop, participants gave the following recommendations: demanding the government to develop a strategic plan for reducing the phenomenon of unemployment; encouraging investment; applying the minimum wage; encouraging the Palestinian youth to volunteer at official, non-governmental, and private institutions; delivering trainings for young graduates to develop themselves and increase their capacities; and inviting young graduates to join trade unions in order to demand their rights.

This workshop comes as part of a project to empower human rights defenders, carried-out by MUSAWA both in the West Bank and Gaza, with the support of the European Union.