Australia to hear about Afghan women's rights

As the campaign for women's education rages after the abduction of dozens of Nigerian schoolgirls, a local inquiry will hear how Afghan women are coping.

The rights of women and girls in war-torn Afghanistan will be the focus of a public hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.

With the world focused on the fate of the abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria, the parliamentary inquiry will hear from an Afghan colonel who helped build a female police force in his homeland, and an activist who has spent years campaigning for Afghan women's education.

There will also be information on Australia's aid contribution and stories from aid workers about their work protecting women's rights in the volatile country.