Palestinian Decent Work Programme
Kuwait contributes US$500,000 to support ILO activities in the occupied Palestinian territory
The State of Kuwait grants the International Labour Organization (ILO) half a million US dollars, bringing the State’s total contributions dedicated to promoting decent work and social justice in the occupied Palestinian territory and the Arab States to US$3.5 million since 2009.
 Kuwait Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim (left), ILO Director-General Guy Ryder (centre) and ILO Acting Regional Director for Arab States Frank Hagemann (right) at the signing ceremony in Geneva |
Jamal Al-Ghunaim, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, made the contribution to ILO Director-General Guy Ryder on Wednesday (March 25,) on the side-lines the ILO Governing Body, the tripartite executive meeting of the International Labour Organization in Geneva.
The ILO Director General acknowledged Kuwait’s support to the ILO and its consistent contribution to the ILO’s interventions; the contributions account for 85 per cent of funding for ILO programmes in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The ILO Director General also underlined that ILO’s programmes in the Palestinian occupied territory are extended to support the Palestinian National Development Plan (2014–16) as well as the Palestinian Decent Work Programme (2013–16), which prioritizes technical assistance in the areas of labour market governance, employment and social protection.
The new funding brings Kuwait’s total contributions to the ILO’s promotion of decent work and social justice in the Arab States region to US$3.5 million since 2009.
In particular, these contributions have enabled the ILO to expand its technical support to its Palestinian constituents under the umbrella of the Palestinian Decent Work Programme, launched in 2013. The programme aims to promote labour rights and governance, enhance employment and livelihood opportunities, and extend social security coverage and social protection.
"Kuwait will maintain its support to the ILO and its interventions in the oPt," said Jamal Al-Ghunaim. “We trust that the ILO’s work in Palestine has contributed significantly to achieving better livelihoods for the Palestinian people,” he added.
Over the past two years, Kuwait’s financial support to the ILO in the oPt has been used to: strengthen labour market governance through reformed labour law and enhanced social dialogue; Facilitating the development of a social security system; Gender equality and women’s empowerment; and Supporting livelihoods and job opportunities in Gaza.
“As the ILO, and as members of the wider United Nations community, we must not lose sight of our objective to provide the Palestinians with the means to establish a viable state of their own, and to live in peace and security, alongside all the peoples of the region,” said Guy Ryder.
“That will mean that people must have access to jobs and livelihoods, and feel that decent work is an attainable alternative to perpetual conflict. It is precisely this idea that our partners in the Government of Kuwait have understood and supported throughout.”