Talent Acceleration Program to Scale (TAP-2-Scale)


With this single-phase intervention, Switzerland aims to foster economic perspectives for Palestinian youth. The intervention will focus on creating long-term job placements of Palestinian graduates in international IT companies (including Switzerland), and it shall be achieved through upskilling programs tailored to private sector needs. The intervention is implemented in partnership with the Palestinian-Dutch start-up company TAP under the modality of payment for results.

Pays/région Thème Période Budget
Territoire palestinien occupé
Emploi & développement économique
Création d'emplois
Soutien commerciale & inclusion économique
15.03.2024 - 31.08.2026
CHF  706’000
Contexte

Despite raising levels of education, four out of ten Palestinian youth have no jobs. Creating jobs for young men and women in the oPt is hence an imperative not only for economic progress, but also for the stability of the region. The changes that occurred after the war in Gaza resulted in a spike in unemployment, especially among youth, some of whom used to work inside Israel, thus exacerbating an already dire situation.

New job opportunities for qualified youth arise from the global digital transformation, which is gaining space also in the oPt – a trend validated by the iGravity report commissioned in 2020 by the Swiss Cooperation Office for Gaza & the West Bank (SCO).

Switzerland has been very active in the areas of job creation for Palestinians, digitalization of the Palestinian economy, and technology transfer of Swiss knowhow and expertise to Palestinian businesses and universities.

This new initiative builds on a pilot project that Switzerland funded through the startup company Kiitos, where young women and men were trained on cutting-edge technologies, and then supported to land long-term remote employment contracts with Swiss and European businesses. Based on that success, Kiitos saw a business case in this business model, and decided to spin-off TAP as a standalone startup to focus solely on the upskilling and employment creation business.

Objectifs Advance socioeconomic development in the oPt by bolstering employment prospects for youth within the technology sector.
Groupes cibles
  • Palestinian university students and graduates, especially women
  • Non university graduates, with strong technology experience, and high drive to upgrade their technology skills
Effets à moyen terme

Outcome 1: Sustainable job placements of Palestinian women and men in international IT markets are achieved through tailor-made, market-driven upskilling programs.

Outcome 2: The private sector partner (TAP) is on a path to achieve financial self-sufficiency by year 2026 through increasing internal revenues and by benefiting from economies of scale through targeting more beneficiaries.

Résultats

Principaux résultats attendus:  

  • 200 students trained on high-end, market-sought technical and interpersonal skills
  • 154 graduates (77%) placed in high quality jobs


Principaux résultats antérieurs:   This single phase proposal builds on the successful pilot financed through a small action and implemented by Kiitos (TAP antecedent), through which 41 youth were trained, 19 have secured full time employments with international private sector companies such as DeepOpinion (Austrian), Scigeniq (Dubai) as well as big Swiss companies and startups like Covalo, Wingtra.


Direction/office fédéral responsable DDC
Partenaire de projet Partenaire contractuel
Secteur privé
  • Sectreur privé étranger Sud/Est
  • Talent Acceleration Platform (TAP) (a spin-off from the startup business Kiitos); Kiitos is a private sector startup business who worked on IT job outsourcing and IT job training and remote job placements. Kiitos was the implementer of a previous Swiss-funded project. In 2022 Kiitos decided to spin off the job training and placement functions and create a new business entity called Talent Acceleration Platform “TAP”.


Coordination avec d'autres projets et acteurs

The program will coordinate closely with:

  • The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a co-donor for the program
  • The World Bank, Swiss Funded – Youth TechStart project as it’s working in the area of job creation, and targeting the same beneficiary group
  • UNDP-Implemented, Swiss-Funded University-led Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program. The UNDP project aims to support university graduates developing market-ready technologies, and thus, TAP will coordinate to either develop the skills of these university graduates, or link them to potential employers
  • The Swiss Business Hub Middle East in Dubai. The intervention will coordinate with the HUB to help facilitate access to MENA hiring companies and possibly investors
Budget Phase en cours Budget de la Suisse CHF    706’000 Budget suisse déjà attribué CHF    414’457 Projet total depuis la première phase Budget y compris partenaires de projet CHF   706’000
Phases du projet Phase 1 15.03.2024 - 31.08.2026   (Phase en cours)