Geneva - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said its expenditure in 2008 reached a record high owing to increasing humanitarian problems worldwide.

The Geneva-based organization, in its annual report, said its budget increased to about 1.1 billion Swiss francs (1.01 billion dollars) last year, amounting to an increase of around 150 million on 2007.

Sudan, Somalia and Iraq together cost the ICRC about 300 million francs in 2008. Other hot spots included Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Sri Lanka.

The organization said it visited almost half a million detainees in 83 countries last year and handled over 667,000 messages, including 218,000 passed between detainees and their families.

It also helped facilitate family visits for 32,735 detainees and traced 6,000 people being sought by their families.

The Red Cross also distributed some 121,000 tons of food - twice as much as in 2007 - to 2.79 million people. Most recipients were internally displaced people.

Millions also benefited from the organization's water and sanitation projects and its medical facilities, the report said.

In all, the Red Cross ran aid operations in 49 countries last year, including Russia and Georgia, following the sudden outbreak of a war last summer. It was present in over
80 nations.

The ICRC warned that combined factors were harshly impacting the world's most vulnerable populations.

"Afghanistan, Somalia and Pakistan are three examples of countries where natural disasters and high food prices have made life even harder for poor people already struggling to cope with the effects of war," ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger said in a statement.

He said international law could help relieve the suffering of civilians in times of war.

"Much of this suffering could have been avoided if conflict parties had improved their compliance with international humanitarian law," Kellenberger said.

The Red Cross was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1863. It engages in humanitarian activities and promotes international humanitarian law.(dpa)