Learn how to work online

Our aim is to help people in Palestine earn money from online freelancing.

This follows our roadshow, which visited Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin and Nablus. For more information, click here.

The new world of work

The world of work is changing, and Palestine with it. While it is romantic to think about gathering a harvest of olives, tomatoes or fruit, it is difficult to earn a living from farming, not least with the special problems in Palestine of getting it to market.

Despite the traditional view of Palestine as an agricultural nation, agriculture is not a big employer, providing only 12% of all jobs. The biggest employer is services with 65%, and industry at 23%. Major industries are quarrying and stone cutting, tourism, cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, mother-of-pearl souvenirs, and food processing.

Palestine needs additional new skills, and especially those that reflect its special conditions, with travel difficult and border points hard to negotiate. Moreover, the home market inside the West Bank and Gaza is limited, with a population of 4.2 million divided into two separated areas.

Unemployment is high at 16%, and 30% of Palestinian GDP is dependent on foreign aid. Gaza in particular is dependent on international aid.

But there is a new solution on the horizon

Thanks to the internet, people in Palestine can earn a living from overseas, without setting foot outside the country.

Around the world, companies and individuals are increasingly turning to freelancers to get work done. This includes:

• Translation
• Content writing
• Programming
• Web design
• Data entry
• Graphic design
• And much more

IT skills in Palestine are growing. Thanks to the action of CISCO and other companies, IT has grown from 0.8% of GDP to 5%.

Not everyone can be employed by a big firm like CISCO. But if you have access to the internet you can be a global entrepreneur.