Talent Acceleration Program to Scale (TAP-2-Scale)

Despite raising levels of education, four out of ten Palestinian youth have no jobs. Creating jobs for young men and women in the oPt is hence an imperative not only for economic progress, but also for the stability of the region. The changes that occurred after the war in Gaza resulted in a spike in unemployment, especially among youth, some of whom used to work inside Israel, thus exacerbating an already dire situation.

New job opportunities for qualified youth arise from the global digital transformation, which is gaining space also in the oPt – a trend validated by the iGravity report commissioned in 2020 by the Swiss Cooperation Office for Gaza & the West Bank (SCO).

Switzerland has been very active in the areas of job creation for Palestinians, digitalization of the Palestinian economy, and technology transfer of Swiss knowhow and expertise to Palestinian businesses and universities.

This new initiative builds on a pilot project that Switzerland funded through the startup company Kiitos, where young women and men were trained on cutting-edge technologies, and then supported to land long-term remote employment contracts with Swiss and European businesses. Based on that success, Kiitos saw a business case in this business model, and decided to spin-off TAP as a standalone startup to focus solely on the upskilling and employment creation business.

• Palestinian university students and graduates, especially women
• Non university graduates, with strong technology experience, and high drive to upgrade their technology skills

Outcome 1: Sustainable job placements of Palestinian women and men in international IT markets are achieved through tailor-made, market-driven upskilling programs.

Outcome 2: The private sector partner (TAP) is on a path to achieve financial self-sufficiency by year 2026 through increasing internal revenues and by benefiting from economies of scale through targeting more beneficiaries.

Expected results:  

• 200 students trained on high-end, market-sought technical and interpersonal skills
  
• 154 graduates (77%) placed in high quality jobs

Results from previous phases:   This single phase proposal builds on the successful pilot financed through a small action and implemented by Kiitos (TAP antecedent), through which 41 youth were trained, 19 have secured full time employments with international private sector companies such as DeepOpinion (Austrian), Scigeniq (Dubai) as well as big Swiss companies and startups like Covalo, Wingtra.

The program will coordinate closely with:

• The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a co-donor for the program
• The World Bank, Swiss Funded – Youth TechStart project as it’s working in the area of job creation, and targeting the same beneficiary group
• UNDP-Implemented, Swiss-Funded University-led Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program. The UNDP project aims to support university graduates developing market-ready technologies, and thus, TAP will coordinate to either develop the skills of these university graduates, or link them to potential employers
• The Swiss Business Hub Middle East in Dubai. The intervention will coordinate with the HUB to help facilitate access to MENA hiring companies and possibly investors