Fertility rates and population growth influence economic development. The marked declines in fertility seen in some developing nations have been accompanied by slowing population growth, which in turn provided a window of opportunity for rapid economic growth. For many sub-Saharan African nations, this window has not yet opened because fertility rates have not declined as rapidly there as elsewhere. Fertility rates in many sub-Saharan African countries are high: the total rate for the region is estimated to be 5.1 births per woman, and rates that had begun to decline in many countries in the region have stalled. High rates of fertility in these countries are likely to contribute to continued rapid population growth: the United Nations projects that the region's population will increase by 1.2 billion by 2050, the highest growth among the regions for which there are projections. In June 2015, the Committee on Population organized a workshop to explore fertility trends and the factors that have influenced them. The workshop committee was asked to explore history and trends related to fertility, proximate determinants and other influences, the status and impact of family planning programs, and prospects for further reducing fertility rates. This study will help donors, researchers, and policy makers better understand the factors that may explain the slow pace of fertility decline in this region, and develop methods to improve family planning in sub-Saharan Africa.

This book discusses current trends in contraceptive use, socioeconomic and program variables that affect the demand for and supply of children, and the relationship of increased contraceptive use to recent fertility declines.

World Bank Technical Paper No. 272. Public examinations in developing countries play a critical role in the selection of students for participation in the educational system. The exams dictate what is taught, how it is taught, and what is and is not learned. They are academic, have little reference to the everyday lives of the students, are limited to pencil-and-paper tests, and are biased toward high-achievers. Thus, students who leave school at an early stage are provided with inadequate opportunities for acquiring relevant knowledge and skills. This study identifies practices associated with examinations that may create inequities for some students. These include scoring procedures, the use of culturally inappropriate questions, fee requirements, private tutoring, exams in a language unfamiliar to the student, and a variety of malpractices. Quota systems that deal with differences in performance associated with location, ethnicity, or language group membership also creates inequities for some students. The report concludes that the limited available evidence does not indicate that examinations create inequities between genders and that ranking schools on the basis of students' examination performance may not provide a fair assessment of the work of schools.

Major issues related to the financing of family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa are addressed. The report is addressed to policy-makers and program managers in African government and donor agencies active in health and family planning fields, and is aimed to identify gaps in the information base that will need to facilitate policy and program change. A series of policy briefs highlighting key issues are presented. This document is divided into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the extensive unmet need for family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa with literature review in financing, health care context and regional diversity. Chapter 2 illustrates the large and growing gap between the need of family planning services and the availability of donor and government funds in response to this need. Included in this chapter are family planning needs information, cost estimation, and existing government expenditures. Chapter 3 discusses the increase in service fees for users of public sector and nongovernmental organization outlets with an evaluation of system performance. Chapter 4 explains the strategy of encouraging greater use of commercial sector with emphasis on the commercial development sector involvement in family planning service delivery. Finally, chapter 5 examines the strategy of reducing the costs of family planning services which includes the mobilization of underutilized capacity, elimination of unnecessary medical barriers and the integration of family planning and other reproductive health services.

This booklet is based on the Estimates and Projections of Family Planning Indicators 2019, which includes estimates at the global, regional and country level of contraceptive prevalence, unmet need for family planning and SDG indicator 3.7.1 "Proportion of women who have their need for family planning satisfied by modern methods".