[Entering the city: Maghribian migrations and the reshaping of urban networks in Tunis and Marseilles]

The development of French urban areas populated predominantly by North African immigrants is explored. "Starting from...research on the development of the outer periphery, the author analyses the emergence of a big Maghrebian city within Marseilles. He shows both the reproduction of residential patterns found in Tunis and the production of original social relationships, which characterize the dynamics of exchange between Maghrebian people." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Mortality and causes of death of Moroccans in France, 1979-91

"The results of a study by Michele Tribalat showed that the death rates of immigrants in France were surprisingly low: they were not only better than the national average, but far better than the rates specific to the socio-occupational categories the immigrants belonged to. Was this due to observation errors, to selection of the fittest applicants for immigration, or to the fact that immigrants adapted positively, that is, by taking the best (health services, living conditions...) and leaving the worst (overnutrition, road accidents...)? [The authors] investigate these questions here with respect to Moroccans living in France, first by a general analysis, then by a study of the causes of death. They confirm the surprisingly low mortality of Moroccan immigrants. But incidentally, in the case of mobility within France, adult mortality was shown to be roughly 11% lower among men who had changed regions at least once than among those who had not."

Decree No. 85-766, 23 May 1985

This Decree creates a High Council for the Family and Population and regional councils. The High Council is to examine the general orientation of the policy to promote the family, family planning, and population and is to determine the large outline of programs and plans of action of the National Office of the Family and Population. Similarly, the High Council is to examine objectives set by development plans with respect to the above and the means necessary to carry them out. In addition, the High Council is authorized a) to make proposals with respect to anything relating to family policy and population questions; and b) to request the preparation of studies and reports that will help it accomplish its mission, in particular, in areas concerning perspectives of demographic growth in the middle and long term and their effect on the different policies of economic and social development and on the equilibrium and well being of the family. It is also to study all questions submitted to it by a consultative commission for the family and population. Further provisions of the Decree set forth the composition and procedures of the High Council, as well as those of the regional councils, which are to be consulted on regional programs and plans of action relating to the promotion of the family, family planning, and population. Decree No. 87-713 of 11 May 1987 (Journal Officiel de la Republique Tunisienne, No. 37, 22 May 1987, pp. 692-693) makes modifications of a technical nature to Decree No. 85-766.

Sex differences in mortality among young children in the Sahel

"This article studied sex differences in mortality among children aged 1-23 months in the cities of Bamako [Mali] and Bobo-Dioulasso [Burkina Faso] and in a rural area of Senegal. No significant differences between male and female mortality risks were found in any of the areas for the full age span of 1-23 months. For smaller age groups, patterns of excess female and male child mortality are evident. Excess female mortality, statistically significant in standard tests, exists among children aged 1-8 months in the Senegalese area and 6-15 months in the combined urban areas of Bamako and Bobo-Dioulasso. Excess male mortality occurs for ages 16-23 months in the city of Bamako."

[The plural family in a rural African environment. An example of plantation economy: the Dayes plateau in Southwest Togo]

"Study of the transition to a plantation economy in populations on the Dayes plateau (SW Togo) shows the progressively preponderant role of the domestic group. Responsibility for production, for continuity of the labour force and for the demographic continuity of groups which used to be held by lineal authorities is now exercised at [the] domestic unit level. Although this results in greater autonomy for women, it also results in radical changes in the marriage rate. The loss of control of lineal structures over marriages appears to have led to increasing conjugal instability to link in particular with the number of unmarried couples. The authors carry out a comparative study of autochthonous groups (Ahlon and Ewe) and an immigrant group (Kabye) and study the consequences of this situation with regard to both demography and family structures. They show that autochthonous and immigrant groups are interdependent in the forming of demographic structures and report that there are many family models, essentially in the autochthonous population." (SUMMARY IN ENG)