GENEVA, Dec 9: Armed conflicts worldwide and the relief effort following the earthquake in Pakistan are forcing the International Committee of the Red Cross to raise its funding needs for next year by nearly 10 per cent, the agency said on Friday.

The Geneva-based humanitarian agency appealed for a total of $802 million in initial funding from governments for operations in 80 countries next year.

Some 895 million Swiss francs of the total is earmarked for field operations, an increase of 9.2 per cent over this year’s amount. The rest is used for headquarters management, including tracing missing people.

The ICRC warned in a statement that it faced an increasingly “daunting task” to help civilians whose lives were disrupted by violence.

Seven out of the top 10 situations involved internal conflicts or civil wars, where different sides have since splintered into a host of warring parties that make the task even more difficult for relief workers.—AFP