ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have had so much assistance from so many people and institutions in the preparation of these lectures that it would be impossible to mention them all by name, give them due credit and to thank them adequately. To all those who gave advice and help in any shape or form but who are not mentioned specifically I say a sincere thank you. My former research associates, Karen Newman of IPPF and Janet Nassim of the World Bank, gave me much valuable advice on the arrangement of the material and helped point me to important basic material.

Those without whose help the lectures could not have been written include the Population Council, especially Judith Bruce and George Brown, Family Care International, particularly Ann Starrs and Jill Sheffied and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The Secretary General of IPPF and Angela Davies made it possible for me to have excellent research and drafting assistance from Jeremy Hamand and Morag Humble. Jeremy Hamand and Christine Hawkins guided the editing of the final text and prepared the material for publication and Dr Ronald Kleinman kindly read the proofs and made a number of valuable suggestions. I am extremely grateful to all of these, and to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which has provided grant support for this publication as an input to policy and programme discussions following the IPCD Programme of Action, particularly with respect to the improvement in the status, well-being and reproductive health care of African women.

I am also indebted to my wife and daughters who read and gave insightful advice on the text and whose legal friends and colleagues gave invaluable assistance on the sections touching on Ghana laws and customs.

While acknowledging with gratitude the contributions of all of these people I wish to make it clear that I am solely responsible for any errors of fact, omissions and misinterpretations that may appear.