The Current

As Gaza deteriorates, young people are losing hope

After years of conflict, Gaza is physically devastated. Its unemployment rates are the highest in the world. Daily life is trying. And politics seemingly grind on as usual. And so, amidst all that...a sense of hope for the future is hard to come by. We check in on the state of young people in the Gaza strip.
In the Gaza Strip, rebuilding is happening slowly one year after a devastating conflict. ( REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)

Gaza is desperate and Gaza is angry. Angry at the blockade. Angry at the closure of the Raffah crossing. Angry at Hamas, including for imposing an illegal solidarity tax. At the donors for not honouring their commitments to reconstruction. At everyone.- UN Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov

United Nations Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov. And he may have taken a few liberties, by speaking there on behalf of the 1.8 million people who live in the Gaza Strip. But he likely wasn't very far off the mark. 

Gaza's borders -- by land, sea and air -- are closed to the outside world: by Israel on one side, and Egypt on the other.

Nearly a year after Operation Protective Edge, Gaza is still in ruins, unemployment is at 40% and young people want out. (REUTERS/Mohammed Salem )

The materials desperately needed to rebuild the territory after last summer's devastating conflict with Israel, are often turned back at the border.  That's because of Israel's concerns that the Hamas-led government will use the supplies to rebuild its weapons cache. 

And it's not just the stalled rebuilding -- the entire situation in Gaza looks increasingly untenable.

According to the World Bank, unemployment in Gaza is 40 per cent -- the highest in the world.  Fully 60 per cent of young people are unemployed, and many Gazans -- especially younger ones -- are looking for a way out. 

  • Omar Mansour is a university student who got out of Gaza about a year ago. He's now in Victoria, BC. 
  • Omar Shaban is an economist and civil society activist who lives in Gaza.
     

​This segment was produced by The Current's Gord Westmacott.