Xpand Freelance Agency Program

In 2017, the unemployment rate in Palestine had reached around 30%, which created the need for new and different solutions for employment. As a result, Xpand was designed to enable the Palestinian workforce to join the freelancing and outsourcing global market, which had reached a gross value of $4 billion in 2016.

There were around 12,000 Palestinian freelancing accounts registered on international freelancing websites. However, those job seekers needed the capacity and expertise to compete and expand their network at the regional and international levels.

The main goal of Xpand was to develop and implement a replicable model for setting up operational agencies that competed for freelance projects on various online platforms for the benefit of individual freelancers.

Achieving this objective was contingent on the establishment of effective learning mechanisms to produce a viable and replicable model that could be taken up by other actors. Accordingly, the program provided support and capacity building for potential entrepreneurs who could lead the establishment of such agencies.