According to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute, millions of women in developing countries have an unmet need for contraception and are thus at risk for unintended pregnancy. Progress has been made in many regions, but has been slow in sub-Saharan Africa, according to study authors.

State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth and a youth supplement, Growing Up Urban, are available online from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The report predicts that more than half of the world’s population will live in towns and cities by next year, and urban growth will be particularly fast in Africa and Asia (New York Times).

Does Female Schooling Reduce Fertility? Evidence from Nigeria by Una Okonkwo Osili and Bridget Terry Long (NBER Working Paper No. 13070)

The Effect of Labor Migration and Remittances on Children’s Education Among Blacks in South Africa by Yao Lu and Donald J. Treiman (California Center for Population Research [UCLA] working paper CCPR-001-07)

At the 19th annual World Congress on Fertility and Sterility in Durban, Nigerian professor of gynecology E. Oluwole Akande said sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies (The Star, South Africa). The reasons for this high rate include a lack of sex education, poor health care, and limited access to contraception and family planning for teenagers.

A systematic study of China’s one-child policy reveals details about exemptions and finds that overall the policy has been effective. The study appears in the current issue of Population and Development Review.

Return of the Population Growth Factor: Its Impact on the Millennium Development Goals (PDF), a report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, argues for a renewed emphasis on access to sexual and reproductive health, reproductive rights, and population growth in order for poor countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Yicheng’s birthrate is lower than the Chinese national average, even though the county is exempt from the “one child policy”. The article also examines related issues, such as population aging and the effects of sex selection on Chinese society.

Rwanda is planning to become the first African nation to place limits on family size, according to a BBC News report.

Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion In Uganda: Causes and Consequences (PDF) is a new report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

The Key Indicators Survey (KIS), a new tool from MEASURE DHS, is designed to collect population-based data comparable to the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for sub-national areas. The tool includes six questionnaires and guidance manuals.