The United Nations is calling for a record 41 billion dollars to fund its humanitarian work next year.
The U.N. estimates the number of people needing emergency relief will reach 274 million, up almost one-fifth.
Officials say conflicts in countries such as Yemen, Syria and Ethiopia are hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.
The U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, gave examples of how the organization had made a difference this year.
[Clip: Griffiths]
"We were able to stop a famine from affecting half a million people in southern Sudan. It can work, it does work, properly resourced and properly managed. We delivered health care for 10 million people in Yemen, and there also kept the threat of famine, famine that kills, at bay."
