The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) signed an agreement with the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) that aims to enhance livelihood and human development opportunities for Palestine refugees in Gaza.

UNRWA employs young and qualified Palestine refugees at its IT Service Centre (ITSC) in Gaza to provide service desk, application development, infrastructure and information management services to all five field offices of the Agency.

With this agreement, UNICC will be able to benefit from the capabilities of UNRWA in the following areas: (i) ICT technical capacity augmentation; (ii) ICT end-to-end solution delivery; and (iii) ICT operation and maintenance support.

Speaking about the agreement, Kaan Cetinturk, UNRWA CIO and Director of Information Management and Technology Department, said: “Through this joint project, young and skilled Palestine refugees will be able to contribute to the digital transformation of the UN in the IT domain without the restrictions of geographic borders.”

Sameer Chauhan, Director of UNICC added: “This agreement will strengthen the UNICC capacity to deliver reliable ICT services driven by best practices. With its world-class technology and state-of-the-art infrastructure, together with the vast cross-domain experience of its very knowledgeable staff, ICC is always ready to offer UN-friendly shared solutions to United Nations organizations and international institutions with similar missions and value.”

The agreement is expected to strengthen refugee capabilities, increase livelihood opportunities for Palestine refugees, and constitute direct contributions to  the UN Sustainable Development Goals.