UN seeks record $41 billion for aid

Famine remains a "terrifying prospect" for 45 million people living in 43 countries, as extreme weather caused by climate change reduces food supplies, it said in the annual appeal reflecting a 17% rise in annual funding needs.

"The drivers of needs are ones which are familiar to all of us. Tragically, it includes protracted conflicts, political instability, failing economies... the climate crisis, not a new crisis, but one which urges more attention and of course the Covid-19 pandemic," U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told a news briefing on Wednesday.

Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia and Sudan are the five major crises requiring the most funding, he said, topped by $4.5 billion sought for Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.