International IDEA works to reduce the gap between women's rights as affirmed in the legal texts in the different Arab countries and the low rates of women in decision-making positions.

The House of Representatives has rejected a bill seeking to reserve special seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly.

This followed the rejection of the bill at the electronic voting on the amendment of 1999 Constitution on Tuesday in Abuja.

The bill entitled,” A Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide For Special Seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly”.

After a quarter of a century of democratic experience that followed another 25 years of a revolutionary process that put women’s emancipation at the centre of the revolutionary discourse, women in Mozambique still face social, economic and political exclusions that impact their participation and representation in politics in general and in electoral processes in particular, while constituting 51 per cent of the population and 53 of the electorate.

The House of Representatives special committee on review of the 1999 Constitution has presented the first batch of its report. 

The Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), presented the 68 alterations to the green chamber.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari was on the floor of the House, alongside the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen to witness the presentation.