In the spring of 1993, at the invitation of The Population Council, a small group of Middle East researchers representing different backgrounds and disciplines met in Cairo to discuss the ways in which the issues of population being debated on the global scene related to the current situation in the region.

A period of intensive research and writing followed, and these efforts culminated in an international symposium entitled "Family, Gender, and Population Policy: International Debates and Middle Eastern Realities," convened in Cairo in early 1994. The essays in this book are revised versions of the presentations made at the symposium: they assess the interplay of economic, political, cultural, and demographic forces that shape the context of population policy in the region.