UNITED NATIONS, Dhu-AlHijjah 23, 1437, Sep 24, 2016, SPA -- International donors pledged over $160 million for life-saving support for millions of people in west Africa whose lives have been thrown into turmoil by the extremist group Boko Haram on Friday, but that's just one-third of the amount needed for the rest of this year. U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson called the upheaval in the Lake Chad Basin, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger "one of the worst crises in today's world" and said it must not become a "forgotten crisis." Over nine million people across the basin urgently need humanitarian aid, he said, and 6.3 million aren't getting enough to eat, AP reported. At a high-level conference Friday on the sidelines of the General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, the U.N. humanitarian office said donors pledged $163 million of the $542 million needed this year. Major donors included Belgium, Italy, Britain and the United States. Assistant Secretary-General Toby Lanzer, the humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, said "the Lake Chad Basin crisis is one of the most acute emergencies in the world." "The situation of many affected communities has deteriorated beyond alarming levels," he said. "If we do not act fast, and do more, especially in areas that were previously inaccessible, thousands of people will die." As a result of Boko Haram's attacks, Eliasson said, civilians have been killed, homes torched, possessions looted and livelihoods destroyed. "Tens of thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria are living in famine conditions," he said. -- SPA 03:50 LOCAL TIME 00:50 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w