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UN allocates $1.5 million in emergency aid to Palestinian territories

UN allocates $1.5 million in emergency aid to Palestinian territories

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced that it would allocate $1.5 million for emergency medical supplies and infrastructure repairs in the Palestinian territories.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced that it would allocate $1.5 million for emergency medical supplies and infrastructure repairs in the Palestinian territories.

"We hope that this assistance will help to reduce the suffering of civilians who are under a 24-hour curfew in some cases without access to food, water, electricity or medical aid," said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, who earmarked the funds from the agency's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People.

The money will be used to immediately begin repairing essential access roads, damaged and destroyed buildings, downed electricity and telephone lines, and uprooted water supply systems. Urgently needed medical supplies will also be distributed to hospitals and other health care providers.

The Programme, started in 1978, has provided some $400 million in development assistance to help the Palestinian people through periods of occupation, civil unrest and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.