This is business news on al-Raqeeb radio 101.9 FM by Kevin Daromar
Tina Turner: legendary rock’n’roll singer dies aged 83
Turner who initially found fame in a turbulent musical partnership, became one of the biggest acts in the world as a solo artist and one of the defining pop icons of the 1980s
She had suffered ill health in recent years, being diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and having a kidney transplant in 2017.
Turner affirmed and amplified Black women’s formative stake in rock’n’roll, defining that era of music to the extent that Mick Jagger admitted to taking inspiration from her high-kicking, energetic live performances for his stage persona.
In a statement on Wednesday night, her publicist Bernard Doherty said: “Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock’n Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home near Zurich, Switzerland. With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
Yesterday, The Businesswomen Forum celebrated its 15th anniversary, an event was organized at the Carmel Hotel. The Forum is a national non-profit organization established in 2006, to promote and empower the role of businesswomen and entrepreneurs as leaders in the Palestinian economy through advocacy, aiming to create an enabling environment for women in Palestine. The Forum works through a comprehensive methodology through provision of business development packages including capacity building, coaching, consultancy and technical support necessary for business, enhancing access to markets, financing, and knowledge.
Currently, although women’s participation is low compared to men, Palestinian women work in sectors such as family-owned businesses where they are most likely unpaid. Women work in the textile industry, they are teachers and clerical workers, and some are engineers, doctors, lawyers, and judges.
Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment
While the rate of Palestinian men unemployment has decreased by 1.5 per cent between 2005 and 2017, that of Palestinian women has dramatically increased to 25.2 per cent over the same period.
In 2017, the average daily wage of Palestinian women (84.6 NIS) is only around 70 per cent of that of men (119.6 NIS) in 2017.
Only 3.5 per cent of working age (15-64 years old) women set up their own businesses compared to 16 per cent for working age of men in Palestine.
In Palestine there are almost 7,000 businesses that are owned and operated by women.
Women in Palestine not only have fewer opportunities to access employment but also are less likely to set up their own business than men.
The gender disparities of the labour force participation in Palestine are largely linked to an exceptional economic, social and cultural system and contexts, along with a lack of a supportive environment for women’s entrepreneurship. Much of the female labour force concentrates in low-skilled, non-sustainable and low-income generating economic activities including part-time, seasonal and casual work. Additionally, due to a lack of non-traditional vocational and technical training and inadequate alternative sources of financing, a large number of Palestinian women are discouraged from setting off their own business