State of the Art: Population Policies in the Middle East and North Africa

This review of population policies in Middle Eastern and North African countries complements the earlier works in the State of the Art series by Sabagh (1970) on the demography of the Middle East, and by Bonine (1976) on urban studies in the Middle East. It also interrelates with the work by Van Dusen (1976) on the study of women in the Middle East since population policies often directly and indirectly affect the status of women. The emphasis will be on discussion of current population policies, and where relevant, how these have changed during recent years. A broad definition of population policy is used, i.e., the discussion is not limited to the initiation and expansion of family planning activities, while recognizing that the provision and availability of fertility regulation supplies and services in public and private sectors constitute a major facet of many population policies.