In Gaza, a UN cash-for-work program gives Palestinians some income — and hope
Participants spend 3 months with program repurposing aid materials
In a factory in Gaza City, dozens of women sit in chairs lining the back room, picking at the stitches on bags of flour.
asserted
dozens → give → flour
Periodically, two of them will huddle together around a small wood table, holding both ends of one bag as a third woman cuts it in half with a pair of scissors.
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woman → huddle → scissors
There’s some chatter in the air, but the women mostly work in silence.
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women → ’ → silence
They are turning the sacks into tote bags, folding, cutting and sewing them into the final product.
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They → turn → product
At another part of the factory, other women oversee the last step.
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women → oversee → step
They sit in pairs at each sewing machine, and one folds the handles of the bag together while the other sews them on.
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other → sit → them
They are part of what's known as a cash-for-work program, meant to give displaced people temporary employment.
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what → know → employment
This one has been run by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) since April, and offers people in Gaza the opportunity to work for three months at a factory, repurposing supplies originally given as aid, like bags of flour and wood pallets.
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one → run → flour
Participants are paid 1,000 shekels a month, the equivalent of about $462 Cdn.
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Participants → pay → Cdn
The money doesn't go very far, covering about a week's worth of groceries and living essentials for some families.
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money → go → families
Still, for participants, it's a source of income as well as purpose in a territory that has been ravaged by war.
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that → ravage → war
“I really wanted to have a job; I really wanted to have money to spend because my husband is sick,” Warda Aliwa, 38, told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.
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Aliwa → want → Saife
“These bags of flour come to us as support from outside....
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bags → come → support
After they are emptied, why should we throw them away?” said Aliwa.
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Aliwa → empty → them
“We make them into a bag and we put food in them.”
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we → make → them
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'I can stand on my own two feet'
For some, the job means they’ll be able to feed their families for a while.
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they → rise → while
Nisreen Abbas, 54, cares for her 12 grandchildren and her 87-year-old husband, who is on a wheelchair.
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who → care → wheelchair
“Thank God, I can stand on my own two feet,” she said.
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she → thank → feet
“I bring food for my grandchildren; I bring medicine for my husband.”
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I → bring → husband
Israel and Hamas have been under a ceasefire agreement since October 2025, but the impact of the war has decimated Gaza's economy.
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impact → decimate → economy
About 78 per cent of Palestinians in the enclave were unemployed last year, according to United Nations Trade and Development, with that figure shooting up to more than 90 per cent for the working-age population.
uncertain
figure → accord → population
At the same time, it has become challenging for people to obtain everyday goods.
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people → become → goods
Despite more commercial and aid trucks arriving over the summer, three-quarters of households reported difficulties accessing markets, largely due to cash shortages and high costs, according to the UN WFP's August report.
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quarters → arrive → report
Faten Abu Sharkh, the project’s co-ordinator, says there are approximately 113 women and 20 men involved in the program, which will be renewed annually.
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which → say → program
The products they create are given to people and schools for free.
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they → create → people
She said the women have seen a positive change in their lives because of the program.
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women → say → program
“They worked on this project in order to change their mentality and give them financial, social and mental support,” she said.
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she → work → support
“They had depression and they were given medication but thank God, the work changed their mentality.
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work → have → mentality
Nearby in a different part of the factory, men work on wood pallets that once carried aid, carefully taking them apart with crowbars.
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that → work → crowbars
They sort and throw out the broken pieces, working with the ones still intact.
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They → sort → ones
They sand the wood down, cutting and putting it together to create small tables and shelving units for those in need.
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They → sand → need
Khaled al-Kurd, 50, lost his wife, his daughter, his home and his sewing business in the war.
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Kurd → lose → war
“It was a total collapse for me,” he said.
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he → say → me
But he said this job helped bring him back to some semblance of normalcy.
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job → say → normalcy
“There is a small amount of resources, but it helps us in life.
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it → be → life
"
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Israel → kill → Gaza
Once participants' time with the WFP is over, they will have to find their way on their own.
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they → have → own
Many already wish they can get another chance with the program.
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they → wish → program
“I would like for this to be renewed, for us to keep working and for the income to keep coming to us,” said Aliwa.
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Aliwa → like → us
“We are doing something beneficial.”
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We → do → something
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