PIP: Egypt's Second Rural Fertility Survey was conducted in 1982 and covered 122 villages. In each of these villages a number of households were interviewed, and individual questionnaires were used for the wife, husband, and widowed/ divorced between the ages of 15-49. The objective of this paper is to use the preliminary findings obtained from the wife's questionnaire to assess the performance of the Population and Development (PDP) program. The paper's 3 sections focus on general observations, the preliminary analysis of the PDP impact, and program exposure. The present survey demonstrates that highly traditional sex role attitudes are characteristic of the female, that knowledge of contraception is rather superficial, that women give little thought to the number of children they should have, and that considerable opposition or indifference to family planning still exists. A total of 3845 eligible ever married women were successfully interviewed. The analysis is carried out separately for Upper and Lower Egypt because of the demographic and socioeconomic differences between the areas. In Upper Egypt, women married younger (39.3% married before the legal age of 16 compared to 33.4% in Lower Egypt). Women's participation in the labor force was relatively higher in Lower Egypt. Differences in children ever born were not statistically different in Lower Egypt between PDP villages (4.47) and non-PDP villages (4.32). The differences were also not statistically significant in Lower Egypt. Although ever users of contraception were slightly higher in the PDP villages of Lower Egypt, the percentage of current users seemed unaffected. The proportion currently using modern contraceptive methods was approximately 23% in both PDP and non-PDP villages. The PDP significantly affected increasing contraceptive use in Upper Egypt. Both ever and current user were found in higher proportions in PDP villages: 21.2% and 9.2% respectively, in contrast to 16.1% and 5.2% in non-PDP villages. In both Upper and Lower Egypt there were statistically significant differences between PDP and non-PDP villages regarding knowledge of oral contraceptives (OCs) and the IUD. Program impact was clearest in the case of Upper Egypt, where PDP areas were characterized by slightly lower fertility and child mortality, higher contraceptive prevalence, superior knowledge of contraceptives, and more favorable attitudes toward family planning. While all villages generally showed an increase in contraceptive practice, villages in which the PDP had been working for 3 or more years showed the greatest increases. The evidence suggests that efforts should be intensified to take advantage of the public's general awareness of family planning and favorable attitudes toward it.