War drives record $22.5 billion aid appeal in 2018

A copy of the Global Humanitarian Overview 2018 is pictured during the launch at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations launched a record annual humanitarian appeal on Friday, asking donors for $22.5 billion to meet the needs of 90.1 million in 2018, mainly because of wars in Africa and Middle East.

Needs are rising substantially in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Somalia and Sudan, and remain exceptionally high in Nigeria, South Sudan, the Syria region and Yemen, which will remain the world's worst humanitarian crisis, the U.N. appeal document said.

Mark Lowcock (R) U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) attends with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO, Save the Children International, the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview 2018 at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams)

Helle Thorning-Schmidt (L) CEO of Save the Children International attends with Mark Lowcock U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview 2018 at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Migrants stand at a naval base after they were rescued by the Libyan coastguard, in Tripoli, Libya October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny