The Wealth Gap in Health (PDF: 136KB)

 Despite improvements in public health in the last half-century, large disparities still exist between and within countries in a range of health and population indicators: fertility, infant and child mortality, nutrition, and the use of family planning and other health services. (May 2004)

Making Motherhood Safer in Egypt

 Fewer Egyptian women die of maternal causes today than they did 10 or 15 years ago, thanks to the national safe motherhood program. Nevertheless, maternal mortality in Egypt is still relatively high, and the country faces challenges in reducing it further. This policy brief is also available in Arabic. (March 2004)

Transitions in World Population (PDF: 249KB)
This Population Bulletin chronicles changes in world population in the last century, with a particular focus on the last 50 years. It examines the social and economic factors that affect population change, including wide disparities in income, education, and women's status within countries. It also discusses the heightened international concern since the 1950s about rapid population growth, widespread fertility declines, and the new world consensus reached in the 1990s about how best to respond to population trends.  (BUL59.1, March 2004)

Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in the Middle East
Countries in the MENA region were among the 189 countries that attended the 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit, where leaders from around the word adopted the Millennium Declaration and made a commitment to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. This policy brief is also available in Arabic. (March 2004)

Reproductive Health Programs Need to Involve Men
Conflicting interests and inequities between men and women pose serious obstacles to good health. Recently, however, there has been increased awareness of the need to actively involve men in reproductive health programs. (November 2003)

Empowering Women, Developing Society: Female Education in the Middle East and North Africa
While access to education for females has improved dramatically over the past few decades in the Middle East, many are still excluded. Education helps women prepare for the labor force and helps them understand their legal and reproductive rights. This policy brief is also available in Arabic. (November 2003)

Arab States Country Profiles (PDF:1.60MB)
The 22 countries of the Arab States have a population of about 300 million. The region’s annual population growth rate is 2.7 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for the less-developed world as a whole. The average economic growth rate in the region is lower than the population growth rate and is the second lowest in the world. Additionally, the population of the Arab world is young, with almost 39 percent below the age of 15 and a median age under 20. There has been a sizeable increase in the number of women of reproductive age. These UNFPA/PRB country profiles illustrate the specific issues and numbers for the Arab region. (October 2003)

Saudi Arabia Faces Population Pressures
Saudi Arabia is grappling with many demographic problems: a large, young population; fertility rates of almost 6 children per woman; high population growth; and a large expatriate population. (May 2003)

Iraqi Population Outlook Uncertain
War and international economic sanctions have seriously compromised living conditions for Iraq’s population of 24 million, half of whom are under age 18. Estimates show that life expectancy at birth, which was 65 years at the end of the 1980s, is now 58 years, compared with 76 years in Kuwait. (April 2003)

Women's Reproductive Health in the Middle East and North Africa (PDF: 234KB)
About half of the 10 million women who give birth each year in the Middle East and North Africa have some kind of complication, with more then 1 million of them suffering serious injuries that lead to long-term illness. (February 2003)