Population education programs in Africa are specific to each country, yet have important common characteristics. Concern with safeguarding positive cultural traditions and moral values, and an essential objective of improving quality of life for individuals and societies are shared by many different programs. The idea of responsible parenthood, often touched on in the context of larger programs of "population and development" or "economic development and quality of life", calls for relating family size to prospects of economic development rather than limiting families to small sizes dictated by available family resources. Small families are seen not as a panacea but as a favoring factor within development policies. Smaller families are viewed as facilitating education of children and protecting family health through avoidance of early and closely spaced pregnancies. Rehabilitation of family values, modernization of means of production, and increasing educational levels and marriage ages are considered necessary steps in reduction of family sizes and improving quality of life. Fertility per se receives less priority in population education programs and when the issue is raised it is usually related to mortality or woman's status. The value attached to children in traditional African societies and their importance to female status limits receptivity to messages focusing exclusively on reducing family size. Most of the programs also place little emphasis on family size in relation to management of family resources, partly because of the continued importance of the extended family. Women occupy the most important place in population education programs because of their role in assuring family health, protecting the environment, educating children, and in production, and also because of their increasing marginalization in distribution of the benefits of growth. Educational activity is directed toward explaining the current status of women as resulting from sociocultural and religious prejudices which relegate women to an inferior position. The well being of women and their social promotion are essential conditions for family welfare. Women's role in family life and comparative analysis of the responsibilities of women and men, and encouragement of birth spacing through family planning are emphasized with a view toward improving their conditions of existence and promoting their participation in development. Population education programs usually consider women;s marital status and condition in traditional society to be prejudicial to their progress, but positive aspects of their socially recognized traditional status are usually omitted, as are discussions of the negative impact on women's status and condition of the market economy. it is striking that a critical spirit is shown only in regard to traditional factors and not to the values imported from more developed countries.