It all began with an article in a local newspaper in Hannover, Germany. Erhard Schreiber, a business­ an, was reading about the world’s rapid population growth. He was shocked to learn that the population of low- and middle-income countries had more than doubled in the past forty years. This only exacerbated problems in poor countries, such as insufficient access to education and health care. After doing some research, the entrepreneur discovered that there was no organisation in Germany that dealt with population dynamics in the context of development cooperation. He thought it was high time for this to change. Schreiber then teamed up with Dirk Rossmann, owner of the Rossmann chain of drugstores, who was also committed to the cause.

On December 12th 1991 the two businessmen founded DSW (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung). Their motives continue to guide our work today: to facilitate access to sexual and reproductive health education and family planning for all women, men and young people in the world’s poorest countries. Shaped by the entrepreneurial spirit of the two founders, our activities are focused on helping people to help themselves through capacity building. In 1998, the two founders were awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their work. They continue to play an active role on the Board of Directors and energetically support the foundation’s activities.