REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government has urged the International Labor Organization (ILO) to seriously mobilize support from development partners to address the issue of unemployment in Palestine. The appeal was voiced by the Indonesian government before ILO Director General Guy Ryder and participants of the meeting of Ministers of Labor of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held in Geneva, Switzerland.
"The current unemployment rate in Palestine is the highest in the world, as the Israeli side continues to limit the activities of workers and employers in the Israeli-occupied territories in Palestine to engage in economic activities," Indonesian Minister of Manpower Hanif Dhakiri stated in a press statement from the office of Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia in Geneva received in Jakarta on Thursday.
He delivered the statement on the sidelines of the 107th Session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva.
He emphasized that the Palestinian issue was very close to the hearts of the Indonesian people. To this end, the Indonesian government will continue to provide support to realize Palestinian independence for achieving economic growth and offering decent work opportunities in the country.
The government of Indonesia expressed high concern over the situation of workers in the Israeli-occupied territories in Palestine based on a report of the ILO director general. Hence, the Indonesian government has called on NAM countries to urge the ILO to mobilize funds for the Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection Program.
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As a Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Hasan Kleib stated that the director general of the ILO annually publishes a report on the employment situation in the occupied territories in the Arab region, including in Palestine.
The report has become the basis for the discussion of the ILC meeting in Geneva. "The ILO noted that the blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza has had an impact on the economic situation in the country due to which the situation in the labor market is getting worse. The unemployment rate of the youth in Palestine has also reached some 50 percent," Kleib noted.
The Meeting of the Ministers of Labor of the Non-Aligned Countries in Geneva passed a declaration that shed light on the employment situation in the occupied territories of Israel in Palestine, among others.
In the declaration, the NAM states asserted their support for the Palestinian struggle to realize independence and expressed deep concern over the labor situation in the region that has had an impact on Palestinian economic and social growth.
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