OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is convening female foreign ministers from a dozen countries to talk about women’s participation in governance and issues like online harassment.

Joly is co-hosting a two-day meeting in Toronto with her Jamaican counterpart, Kamina Johnson Smith, and foreign ministers from countries ranging from Ghana and Indonesia to Nepal and Romania.

The gathering follows a 2018 meeting in Montreal, as well as informal discussions on the sidelines of various global summits.

Joly’s office says the meetings are aimed at sharing ideas on how countries can promote more gender equity in public life, and how to tackle issues that prevent women from seeking office.

Those issues include misinformation as well as “online violence” such as the harassment of women in politics.

Joly is set to speak with reporters this afternoon as the meeting comes to a close.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press