Business and Technology Incubator (BTI), Community Service and Continuing Education Deanship (CSCED), at Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) celebrated the conclusion of project “Promoting online self-employment opportunities for Gaza Strip graduates -Login”, implemented by BTI with generous funding through the World Bank, managed by NGO’s Development Center (NDC). The project aims to support male and female graduates in freelancing and achieve self-employment.
The closing ceremony of the project was attended by: Prof. Dr. Nasser Farhat – President of IUG, Dr. Alaeddin Al-Jamasi – Dean of CSCED, the project supervising party represented by Eng. Alaa Al-Ghalayini – Director of Gaza Programs at NDC, Eng. Saeb Abd al-Nabi – Director of Freelancing Program at NDC, and a group of legal personalities and representatives of partner institutions from the Gaza Strip, with the participation of the male and female graduates who benefited from the project.
During the closing ceremony, the most important results and achievements were reviewed, and their impact on more than (500) trainees, who benefited from the activities and services provided during the project, which in turn enhanced their access to sustainable job opportunities in the field of freelancing and self-employment.
Prof. Farhat expressed the pride of the Islamic University in this achievement, which was achieved despite all obstacles faced by the Gazan youth in the Gaza Strip, including crises and wars, and stressed that the Islamic University, with all its resources, will remain the first supporter of such projects that work to support young people and take their hand to a destination where there are no physical or unphysical boundaries of work empowerment, commending the role of the incubator in supporting graduates and helping them obtain job opportunities.
Eng. Basil Qandil – Director of BTI, crowned the conclusion of the largest project in the history of the incubator which is added to the list of its huge achievements and successes, and expressed his pride that the incubator is an integral part of the Islamic University. He highlighted that Login project differs from other projects implemented in freelancing sector, the most prominent of which was that it is the largest project in terms of implementation budget, the number of applicants for the project, the number of beneficiary trainees, and the number of trainers and consultants. He noted that the incubator will continue to provide such projects that constitute a lifeline for young Gazan people and help them make their way and build their future.
Engineer Al-Ghalayini indicated that Login project is the largest and most distinguished one throughout his career, expressing his pride and happiness with this impressive distinction. He spoke about the nature of Gaza Emergency Program, which included two components, the first: money for work, and the second: support freelancing sector that includes Login project, clarifying that the two components were implemented in conjunction with three institutions. He thanked the trainers and trainees, and stressed that Login project is just a beginning of other upcoming projects.
Engineer Noor Kulak, the Project Coordinator, referred to the project’s most important phases beginning with the selection phase of trainees, including: The initial screening and data verification phase, and then the two phases of tests and interviews, after which the project’s training programs began to be implemented over the course of three rounds, which were: Soft skills training in English, technical training, and freelancing training. She praised the impressive success of the trainees wishing them lasting success and excellence in their working lives.
Mr. Muhammad Shamaa – Coordinator of BTI’s Freelancing Program, spoke about the advantages of incubating and mentoring phase, the most prominent of which are: following-up the trainees individually and collectively after acquiring technical skills, and offering networking activities aimed at transferring knowledge and experiences among the trainees in the various disciplines of the project. This is in addition to achieving several huge accomplishments, most notably of which the revenue volume that exceeded $800,000, with more than 7,000 job opportunities distributed between contracts, and short and long-term projects with local and international companies.
Login project is the first collaboration between BTI and NDC, it has been carried out over three rounds from 2019 to 2022 with funding of over $1 million, during which more than 500 male and female trainees have been instructed in 25 training groups including 11 technical specializations: (Electronic Marketing, Translation, Motion Graphic, Graphic Design, User Interface Design, WordPress Website Building, Mobile Application Building “iOS Mobile Development”, Mobile Application Building “Flutter Mobile Development”, Virtual Assistant, Python Data Science, Voice Over)
