Hundreds of women from across the country gathered in the Nigerian capital this week in support of those leading a push to introduce a quota for female legislators. Currently, only four out of 109 senators and 16 out of 360 House of Representatives members are women. The "Special Seats Bill" would allocate one additional seat for a woman in both the House and Senate in each of the country's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. However, this ambitious push has encountered obstacles before. We speak to Brenda Anugwom, CEO of the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund.
Also, supporters of Malawi's former president, Peter Mutharika, celebrated on Wednesday when his rival, incumbent leader Lazarus Chakwera, conceded defeat in last week's vote. Mutharika secured his return to power with 56.8% of the vote in an election dominated by the soaring cost of living. However, even before the official results were announced, Chakwera revealed that he had phoned Mutharika to congratulate him on his victory and wish him well. Chakwera's MCP party had claimed there were irregularities in the polling, but calls for the electoral commission to delay the release of results were rejected. In his concession speech, Chakwera said that the anomalies did not mean that Mutharika's win did not reflect the will of the people.
And in the Republic of Congo, young people are at the forefront of efforts to protect their coastal environment. Many have joined forces for a programme that tackles the issue of plastic waste polluting their shores.
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