The UN launched the “biggest ever appeal” for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan for $4.4 billion dollars on Tuesday to stop it from sinking into a humanitarian crisis.

At a news conference on Monday, Under-Secretary Martin Griffins told reporters the funding was an essential stop gap measure and the future of the country and its region was at stake.

Griffins also said that money would help the economy so that humanitarian agencies could operate in the country, Reuters reported.

This comes after last year in December the United Nations appealed for $41 billion to provide life-saving assistance next year to a record 183 million people worldwide caught up in conflict and poverty, led by a tripling of its programme in Afghanistan.

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,” Griffins said.

In a report to donors at the time, the world body said: “Without sustained and immediate action, 2022 could be catastrophic.”

Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia and Sudan are the five major crises requiring the most funding, topped by $4.5 billion sought for Afghanistan where “needs are skyrocketing”, it said.