BACKGROUND - Ethiopia is the third populous country in Africa with a population ofrn73 million in the mid 2005. The population is growing rapidly at the rate of 2.46 percentrnper year. At this rate of growth the country will reach 100million in the next 15 years.rnEven if drastic measures slow the rate of growth, the population will continue to increasernas the countryâ€™s 47 million youths under the age of 24 raise their own families. /6/rnOBJECTIVE - the study is designed to assess the magnitude and determinants of unmetrnneed for family planning among couples, wives and husbands in Enderta district.rnMETHODS -Community based cross-sectional study data collection started on January 1rnand finished on January 26. It was carried out among couples; 408 wives and 408rnhusbands. Simple random sampling technique was implemented (the villages had equalrnchance of selection) select 7Villages out of the71. Interview held only for the couplesrnwives aged 15 to 49 and their husbands living in the study area and selected house hold.rnInformants were interviewed using structured and pre tested questionnaire. Data analyzedrnusing EPI Info version 6 and SPSS11 statistical packages.rnFINDINGS - When all couples were stratified according to the contraceptive need status,rn48% of wives and 46.8% of husbands had unmet need. The maximum and minimumrncoupleâ€™s unmet need was 57.6%and 18.6 respectively. Met need was 15%for wives andrn21% for husbands. Contraceptive demands were 63.5 and 68%for wives and husbandsrnrespectively. Among the factors considered to be associated with unmet need onlyrnnumber of live children and discussion about contraception within these six months wasrnfound to be statistically significant. (Table 9, 11, 12).rnDeveloping and implementing programs that encourage the involvement of men in familyrnplanning, improving family planning service for men, and making male contraceptivernmethods available and accessible at all level of health facility is recommended, andrnencouraging spousal communication and involving men in family planning decisionrnmaking is important in bridging the gap between met and unmet need.