By Judith Ugwumadu | 13 August 2014

Britain is to fast-track £3m to four charities working in Northern Iraq to help the victims of the humanitarian crisis there, International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced.

The money will be channelled through the Department for International Development’s Rapid Response Facility. It follows a month of violence between Islamic militants and the Iraqi government.

Funds will be sent to the charities Mercy Corps, Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee and Action Against Hunger and will be spent on food, medical supplies, water and sanitation for over 100,000 civilians.

Greening said: ‘British planes are dropping much-needed aid to help thousands of families stranded on the Sinjar Mountains. DFID is stepping up its work with charities across northern Iraq where nearly 1.5 million people have fled their homes in recent months.

‘Our support is helping thousands of Iraqis get food, water and sanitation they desperately need.’

The European Commission is also to send an extra €5m in emergency funds for Iraq, bringing the overall funding up to €17m so far this year.

The commission’s announcement came as the United Nations raised the crisis rating in Iraq to a Level 3 emergency, the highest ranking for a humanitarian crisis. The ranking is already in place for Syria, South Sudan and Central African Republic.

Kristalina Georgieva, EU commissioner international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response said: ‘I am appalled by the dire humanitarian situation which is worsening every day, with around 200,000 people fleeing Sinjar area in Northern Iraq in August and now in desperate need of assistance.

‘More than 40,000 members of the Yazidi minority are still trapped in the Sinjar mountains by armed groups of ISIL/IS. The European Commission strongly condemns attacks on Iraqi civilians who are being deliberately targeted.’