Action-research to foster enabling ecosystem for social enterprises in Palestine

The study revealed that in Palestine there is no clear definition of what a social enterprise is. Therefore, Researchers had to agree on a common definition and draft a questionnaire aiming at spotting out which organizations could be considered actually social enterprises. The different legal status of the organizations included in the sample reflected the lack of a specific legislation. The semi-structured interviews to key informants helped understand the context in which the project was implemented and the challenges the social enterprises had to face in the Palestinian ecosystem.

Both in Nablus and in Ramallah:

• > There is a strong involvement of women in the business activities, but a lack of inclusiveness towards people with disabilities.
• > A great percentage of the organizations (more than 50%) still partially rely on donations and grants.
• > The organizations reported that they usually involve stakeholders in the decision-making process (66% in Ramallah, 87% in Nablus)
• > In Ramallah 76% of the organizations stated that they employ paid staff, in Nablus about 87% of the organizations employ paid staff. On the other hand most of them involve volunteers and heavily rely on their work.

A few final considerations

The study results showed that the lack of a legal definition of social enterprise and the lack of social entrepreneurship education and awareness hampered the local development of social enterprises. Moreover, the level of inclusion of persons with disabilities was generally quite low compared to that of women with disabilities. Although there was not a clear legal framework, the cultural attitude towards solidarity and the social commitment were strong enough to create opportunities and new kinds of businesses.

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To know more about the project, check the description here.

Read more on our Social Economy Unit