The United Nations has launched a massive relief effort aimed at reaching half a million people displaced by the advance of Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. Edward Colt, spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency, said many are in need.

Edward Colt: “The needs are absolutely massive right now. We’ve had 1.2 million people displaced in this country since January, hundreds of thousands just in the last few weeks alone. So in the next 10 days, we’re going to be bringing in some 2,500 tons of aid, sending it out to those in need. And again, they are in need, because we see it every day, people who are living in churches, mosques, by the side of the road, in schools, in unfinished buildings.”