By Judith Ugwumadu | 1 September 2014

Britain has pledged a further £10m of emergency humanitarian aid relief to help the victims affected by the fighting in northern Iraq, International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced on Friday.

Speaking following her visit in the country with the Iraqi government, Greening said the UK was scaling up its efforts to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people been forced from their homes and into makeshift camps following the advance of IS.

Greening noted that the situation in the country was ‘deeply worrying’.

She said: ‘Britain has been quick to respond and I have seen for myself how lifesaving supplies of food, water and shelter are making a real difference to people who have been left with nothing. But we can do more, and will do more.

‘I am scaling up our efforts across the board and in particular channelling support to meet the specific needs of women and girls who make up the majority of the displaced populations and who need our protection the most.’

Of the £10m, she said £6.5m would go towards funding non-governmental organisations already working on the ground to enable them to continue to provide shelter, food, and clean water.

Around £2m would enable the rapid delivery of emergency supplies, like tents and kitchen sets, while about £640,000 will be spent on logistics and coordination work and £260,000 will go towards providing a humanitarian worker safety hub in Iraq. This will provide reliable information about security risks to help NGOs staff stay safe.

In addition, £600,000 will be spent on charities, such as, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Humanitarian Partnership so they can continue their work of reaching cut-off communities and setting up camps of displaced people, Greening said.