GENEVA - The U.N.'s top aid official called on companies, foundations and very wealthy individuals on Monday to help the United Nations finance its humanitarian work, which is chronically underfunded by governments.

Humanitarian chief John Holmes said new sources of funding were needed to raise enough money for the U.N. to confront the disasters and emergencies that can leave millions of people without shelter, food, or clean water.

"The overall amount of funding is not enough to meet the needs," he told a news briefing announcing an appeal for $3.8 billion to address crises next year in 24 countries including Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

The United States, European Union and Britain have traditionally been the biggest supporters of U.N. humanitarian projects, though Norway, Sweden and Ireland have given more as a percentage of their economic output.

Holmes said donations were needed from new countries and from the private sector to broaden the pool of funds available.

"There are some very desperate people out there suffering and in need," he told a news briefing in Geneva, where the U.N.'s humanitarian operations are based.

While efforts to reach new donors are at an early stage, Holmes said "companies with a global reach" and those working in the areas where humanitarian funds are spent may be the most promising partners.

All but one of the 10 crisis-affected areas the U.N. requested funds for in its appeal were in Africa, where mining and energy firms have been extremely active in recent years.

The continent has also seen increasingly big investments from China, which is seeking minerals and oil to power its blistering economic growth.


ACUTE DISASTERS

Sudan is the biggest focus of the 2008 humanitarian appeal, with the U.N. and its aid partners seeking $930 million. Holmes said access to needy people in the country's Darfur region had become increasingly difficult amid what he described as a continued deterioration of security conditions.

Aid workers have had their cars and phones stolen, while those uprooted by the more than four-year-old conflict are now vulnerable to malnutrition and other woes, he said. Holmes called for continued assistance until government and rebel forces broker an end to their fighting.

Other areas covered in the U.N. request for funds include Sudan's neighbour Chad, where many Darfur refugees fled, as well as Uganda, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast and the Palestinian territories.

In addition to the overall humanitarian appeal, compiled with 188 aid agencies worldwide, the U.N. typically issues "flash" appeals throughout the year for emergency funds to cope with acute disasters such as earthquakes and floods.

In 2007, governments committed $3.3 billion to the combined regular and flash funding sought by the U.N. for humanitarian work, some 66 percent of the total amount requested.

Holmes called that "a good result by historical standards" -- compared to 63 percent in 2006, 55 percent in 2005 and 54 percent in 2004 -- but added: "I wouldn't call it a good result by any other standard."