OTTAWA - Canada is being urged to fight for the rights of women in Afghanistan after it pulls its troops out of the country next year.
CARE Canada says that's because 87 per cent of Afghan women have suffered some form of abuse in their lifetime.
CARE says placing women's rights at the centre of its post-2011 development strategy would dovetail nicely with the Harper government's child- and maternal-health initiative, which it pushed at this year's G8 summit.
The non-governmental organization says it is trying to kick-start a public debate on Canada's role in the war-torn country after the troops come home.
The government has not said specifically what Canada's role would be following next year's military withdrawal, only that it will involve diplomacy and development.
The government has so far brushed aside opposition requests for a full parliamentary debate on the mission's future.
