Labour Market Participation of UNRWA Registered Refugees

This paper describes and analyses the employment situation of Palestine refugees living in the five main geographic fields of UNRWA's operations: the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. Labour markets are the main income-generating activity for Palestine refugee households who lack land and capital. These markets determine the revenues and, consequently, the living standards of those households. Therefore, they are a critical factor to the welfare of Palestine refugee families and individuals.Information concerning this issue is important not only for understanding the functioning of these markets, but also for helping to improve assistance policies, including UNRWA's educational, vocational and social assistance programmes, as well as emergency job creation, microcredit and income-generation initiatives. Along with other aspects of the refugees' situation (analysed in the other thematic reports in this series) this study could contribute to more effective targeting