Australia pledges funds to help Iraq women

Women and girls in Iraq will get special humanitarian aid from Australia.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has pledged $2 million to help displaced women and girls and victims of gender-based violence, via the United Nations Population Fund.

Women and girls were bearing the brunt of the conflict with the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS or ISIL), Ms Bishop said.

The funding comes on top of $5 million Australia provided in emergency humanitarian assistance to people fleeing violence in northern Iraq, $130 million for people in need in Syria and $20 million to support refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.

Ms Bishop made the announcement from New York, where she has addressed the United Nations Security Council on the threat IS poses.

The "murderous terrorist organisation" was not only a threat to the Middle East but to Australia and the rest of the world, she said.