Objectives We examined the association between incorrect knowledge of ovulation and unintentional pregnancy and child among young women in sub-Saharan Africa countries. Methods Using Pearson's Chi-square, t test, multiple logistic regression, and likelihood ratio test, we analyzed Demographic and Health Survey data (2008-2017) of 169,939 young women (15-24 year). Results The range of prevalence of incorrect knowledge of ovulation was 51% in Comoros and 89.6% in Sao Tome and Principe, while unintentional pregnancy ranged between 9.4% in the Republic of Benin and 59.6% in Namibia. The multivariate result indicates a strong association between incorrect knowledge of ovulation and unintentional pregnancy (OR = 1.17; p \ 0.05) and unintentional child (OR = 1.15; p \ 0.05). Conclusions Adolescent women (15-19) generally have poor knowledge of ovulation and are more likely to report an unintentional pregnancy/child than women between ages 20-24. To reduce the burden of unintentional child/pregnancy in Africa, fertility knowledge should not only be improved on but must consider the sociocultural context of women in different countries that might affect the adoption of such intervention programs. Pragmatic efforts, such as building community support for young women to discuss and share their experiences with professionals and educate them on fertility and sexuality, are essential. Keywords Adolescence Á Reproductive health Á Knowledge of ovulation Á Fertility awareness Á Contraception Á Unintentional pregnancy Á Medical geography Á Africa This article is part of the special issue ''Sexual and reproductive health of young people-Focus Africa''. The Rudolf Geigy Foundation (Basel, Switzerland) funded the open access publication of this article.

Africa region remains the continent with the highest total fertility rate among other major regions of the world such as Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America and Oceania. This paper examines the determinants of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa; it also determines the policy implication for reaping and optimizing demographic dividend. Secondary data sources were employed in achieving the set objectives. This paper submitted that determinants such as age at first marriage; high child mortality; low female education; gender preference; and limited birth spacing were the determinants of high fertility in Africa. For Africa to harness the demographic dividend, certain policy implications such as investment in child survival and health programmes; investment in quantity and quality of education; multi-sectoral approaches and meeting infrastructural development; enhance job market and enact and enforce laws to prevent early marriage among other policy programmes must be embraced. The paper concludes that there is high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa because of the in-built population momentum of the populace. Also, fertility must be reduced significantly if sub-Saharan Africa must reap and optimize the promising dividend. This paper, therefore, recommends that all government in Africa continent should come up with and implement effective population policy that will help to reduce high fertility level.

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Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice with severe health implications among women and girls. This study determined whether knowledge reduced the practice of female genital mutilation and identified the socio-demographic factors that predicted the practice of female genital among parents in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional quantitative research method was employed among 600 selected parents in the three senatorial districts of Ekiti-State, Nigeria between March and June 2019. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Our analysis revealed that 468 (78%) of the respondents believed that the practice was high as against 132 (22%) who said the practice was low. Female is two times more likely to practice FGM than male (OR = 1.614, B = 0.479, p < 0.05, CI = 1.088-2.394). Respondents with low knowledge were significantly 11 times likely to practice female genital mutilation compared with respondents with high knowledge (OR = 10.597, B = 2.361, p < 0.05, CI = 6.813-16.483). Those who lived in rural areas were two times significantly (OR = 1.690, B = 0.525, p < 0.05, CI = 3. 246-13.197) likely to practice female genital mutilation than the urban dwellers. The study concluded that respondents' knowledge, location (urban/rural), sex, age, and ethnicity were strong predictors of the practice of FGM/C in Ekiti-State, Nigeria. With these findings in mind, the community institutions would play a great role in changing the community through spreading information about the health implications of FGM/C for the practice to be drastically reduced.