Canada urges UN to include Afghan women in decision-making talks

In a tweet reposted by Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, O'Neill wrote that "Afghan women must be equal partners in decision-making about the future" of their country.

"Their insights are critical to success and legitimacy," O'Neill wrote.

In a letter from the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security,  O'Neill warned Guterres that not having female leaders, persecuted minorities and human rights defenders and could set a serious repercussion in the meeting next week.

Last month, Afghanistan's pre-Taliban ambassador to Ottawa, Hassan Soroosh urged Canadians to fight "gender apartheid" by isolating the regime and added that countries should engage more with civil-society groups, and sanction Taliban leaders.

During a discussion of a resolution Thursday, the members of the UN Security Council called on the Taliban rulers to reverse their increasingly harsh restrictions on women and girls, and banning of Afghan women working for the UN and urged all other UN member nations  to promote an urgent reversal of the Taliban's policies and practices toward women and girls.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)