Responsiveness of Social Entrepreneurship Institutions in Palestine to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)

author: Sabri Yaaqbeh, Rand Taweel, Rabeh Morrar
year: 2024

A range of social and economic challenges afflict the Palestinian territories, especially after the Corona pandemic and the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. This has hindered the government’s plans and policies in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), combined with a significant rise in poverty levels, food insecurity and widespread unemployment (particularly in the Gaza Strip, under blockade since 2007). The latest statistics indicate that unemployment in Palestine remains at a high level, despite a decrease by 2% since 2021, reaching 24.4% by EO 2022. (40.4% for females; 45.3% in the Gaza Strip). Within the same context, the latest Household Expenditure and Consumption Survey (PCBS, 2017) indicates that poverty rates for individuals in Palestine reached 29.2% based on their consumption levels: 13.9% in the West Bank and 53% in the Gaza Strip. The economic impact of the Corona pandemic led to a significant increase in the number of poor people, resulting in the emergence of large numbers of “new poor”, directly linked to new social realities resulting from the pandemic.

The Palestinian government responded positively to the mainstreaming of SDGs, according to the UN (September 2015). Despite notable progress in some goals and indicators (health, education, water and energy), many other indicators have witnessed a sharp decline, such as the first and second SDGs concerning poverty and food security. Therefore, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil-society organizations (CSOs), through social entrepreneurship, can play a major role in confronting the increasing severity of social and economic challenges, by meeting part of the gap in demand for basic services.

Despite the modernity of social entrepreneurship as a concept, and the limited number of studies that have addressed its important role in confronting economic and social challenges (as evidenced by international and regional experiences), it can play a pivotal role in achieving SDGs, especially concerning indicators that witnessed a significant decline during the past two years. Therefore, this study primarily aims to identify the reality and nature of social entrepreneurship in Palestine, its various forms, institutions working in this field, and their role in contributing to achieving SDGs (particularly those that relate to the most prominent social and economic challenges in the Palestinian territories, witnessed by their significant decline over the past two years). This study also aims to achieve a further set of other derivative objectives. These include determining the legal structure of social entrepreneurship institutions; determining the regulatory framework governing their work; identifying the economic, social and environmental dimensions of social entrepreneurship in Palestine, as well as obstacles and challenges facing social entrepreneurship institutions; and the extent to which they provide social security, and associated limitations to achieving SDGs.

attachments
Responsiveness of Social Entrepreneurship Institutions in Palestine to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)