Reproductive health of Arab young people

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Abstract
Demographic changes affecting young people Focus on the high percentage of young people in the population has tended to sideline other demographic trends in the region with important implications for young people. These include the large recent rise in the average age at marriage for both sexes (nearing 30 in parts of North Africa3) and the rising proportions of young unmarried women in many Arab countries.4 These trends have occurred in a cultural context where marriage is universally expected and sexuality outside marriage, particularly for women, heavily sanctioned and thus have important ramifications for reproductive health. Although research is very limited, premarital sexual relations are reported; in Jordan, 7% of college students admitted to non-marital sex in a study in 1994, as did 4% of the general population aged 15-30 in 1999.5 Among university students in Egypt, 26% of men and 3% of women reported having sexual intercourse at least once.6 Major changes in the institution of marriage in the region are almost completely unexplored. There has been a resurgence of customary ('urfi) marriage, whereby young people obtain a clandestine marriage certificate to engage in sexual relations but are unprotected legally or in terms of health services, in countries such as Egypt.7 Other forms of temporary marriage such as “summer marriages” in Egypt or “business related marriage” in the Gulf countries are increasingly discussed in the Arabic media, but their prevalence is unknown.