$2 Campaign tally: moving steadily toward our next microloan fund
Between 50 percent and 70 percent of the nearly 4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live on less than $2 per day -- below the World Bank's globally defined poverty line. On the twenty-second day of April -- 4.22, Shurush put this number to work by launching an online drive for Palestinian entrepreneurs at Shurush.org. Starting with just $2, we are on our way toward our goal of raising $20,000 to launch a new microcredit loan program in the West Bank and/or Gaza. We have started to receive your contributions through our online donation platform, Network for Good, the Internet's leading charitable resource. Shurush would like to thank its generous donors for believing in the power of microfinance to help unemployed Palestinians return to work. Thank you for helping Shurush to realize its goals and for helping Palestinian entrepreneurs to realize theirs.
top

Pros bono: meet Shurush's legal team at Bingham McCutchen LLP
Shurush is extremely fortunate to be a pro bono client of the Boston office of Bingham McCutchen LLP. According to the firm's website, "Bingham McCutchen is a national legal powerhouse with more than 850 lawyers in 11 offices spanning the United States and abroad, focused on serving clients involved in complex financial transactions, a full range of corporate and technology matters, and high-stakes litigation." Shurush is represented by Erin J. Rosen, an associate in the firm's finance area. Erin was a summer associate with the firm's San Francisco office in 2001. The year before, Erin summered with Coudert Brothers LLP in Beijing, China. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Erin clerked with the Honorable Harry L. Hupp on the United States District Court, Central District of California. Shurush would like to express our sincere gratitude to Erin for her ongoing work with Shurush.

Shurush would also like to thank Gerald J. Kehoe, a partner in Bingham McCutchen's business area. Jerry has a general corporate and finance practice, with an emphasis on international transactions. He spent four years as resident partner in the firm's London office, where he devoted a substantial amount of time to cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures, equity investments, and international licensing transactions. Jerry has represented both U.S. and non-U.S. clients of all sizes in a significant number of debt financing, venture capital, and acquisition transactions. We thank both Erin and Jerry for providing invaluable legal counsel to Shurush at no cost. As a new nonprofit organization, we couldn't be more grateful for their time and extensive expertise.

To learn more about Bingham McCutchen LLP, visit: http://www.bingham.com
top

Ear to the ground: current stats

- The number of unemployed in the West Bank and Gaza has reached a record high of 224,000.

- Fewer than half of all Palestinian men of working age -- and only 10 percent of working-age women -- are employed.

- On average, every employed person in the West Bank and Gaza supports six persons in the total population.

- The unemployment rate of Palestinian youth is 40 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds, which is one and a half times the aggregate rate.

- One in three young Palestinians ages 15 to 24 -- and more than half of those ages 25 to 29 -- are in forced idleness (i.e., neither studying nor employed).

- In 2004, 57 percent of all wage workers in the West Bank and Gaza received monthly wages that failed to lift a family of two adults and four children above the official poverty line.

- Approximately half the population of the West Bank and Gaza (1.8 million persons) live below the national poverty threshold.

(Source: A May 27 press release issued by the International Labour Organization, the UN specialized agency that seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights.)
top

In the next issue of The Roots Report
- Building bridges: Shurush explores potential for new microfinance program
- Ask the expert: submit your questions about microfinance to info@shurush.org

We would love to hear from our Roots Report subscribers. Let us know if you would like to get involved with Shurush, if you have questions or feedback, or if you have a question about microfinance that you would like us to answer in the next issue of The Roots Report. We look forward to hearing from you at info@shurush.org!
top

(To subscribe to or unsubscribe from The Roots Report, please send a blank e-mail to info@shurush.org and put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject header.)