As you gear up for another week here are a few must-reads about global news and development I recommend.

• African women won’t wield political influence without cultural change: This article from today’s Guardian highlights the quota system put in place in many African countries that require a certain percentage of female representation in government. Read more to see whether these quotas work or are largely just for show.
• Adult and Youth Literacy Projections: Yesterday was International Literacy Day. UNESCO reports Brazil, China, Indonesia, Iran and Mexico are expected to reach near-universal youth #literacy by 2015!
• [Watch] Chisomo’s Story. You may have heard about Save the Children’s and the Ad Council’s new campaign Every Beat Matters. It is a global initiative that seeks to provide basic health care for children around the world and shine a light on the health workers that work tirelessly to keep them alive. Watch Chismo’s story about the work he does as the sole health worker in a village of 2216 people.

• Slum surveys giving ‘invisible’ inhabitants a say in urban planning: Living in urban slums poses difficult for its residents not only because of squalid living conditions and rife poverty. Residents also need to contend with government ordered evictions where one moment people have makeshift homes and the next they are completely razed. Read more about how slum dwellers are becoming more empowered
• [Photo] The photo above caught my eye. It was taken after hurricane Issac hit Haiti.
  Haitians Receive Government Food Aid in Aftermath Tropical Storm Isaac
  A young girl waits in line for food aid being distributed by the Haitian government in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaac. The storm-swept through Haiti on 25 August with high winds and heavy rains, flooding low-lying areas of the capital Port-au-Prince and the south and seriously damaging camps for people displaced by the January 2010 earthquake. 26 August 2012 | Port-au-Prince, Haiti | UN Photo/Logan Abassi