UN development agency plans $400,000 emergency relief effort for palestinians
Palestine, Economics, 4/26/2002

Concerned about the evolving humanitarian crises in the occupied Palestinian territory, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Thursday announced plans for a $400,000 emergency relief and recovery plan to help rebuild the area.

The UNDP Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People, using funds provided through the Islamic Development Bank, will distribute food, baby milk, bedding, medical kits and essential household items to those worst affected by curfews and house demolitions during the recent operations, especially in Nablus and Jenin.

The agency said that while it is too soon to accurately estimate the cost of the damage, it could well run to hundreds of millions of dollars.

"It is crucial for the international community to make available the seed capital that would help the Palestinian Authority rebuild its governing institutions," said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown. "This would hasten the recovery efforts and reduce the suffering of the devastated population."

To that end, UNDP has received approximately $40 million in new contributions from donor governments to immediately repair the area's infrastructure, including roads, water supply systems and damaged buildings.

An initial sum of $1.5 million, authorized by Malloch Brown earlier this month, has already been used to purchase and distribute urgently needed medical relief supplies and to begin immediate infrastructure repairs in the affected areas.

Previous Stories:
  Moufaz: the war against the Palestinians shakes the Israeli economy   (4/24/2002)
  It would take three years for Palestinian economy to recover   (4/18/2002)
  Moroccan planes conveying assistance to Palestinian people land in Jordan   (4/17/2002)

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