Development Programmes
DSW helps people to protect themselves from illnesses and unwanted pregnancies and fight their way out of poverty. For this reason we implement and support family planning and information projects in Africa and Asia. Youth plays a special role: they are the parents of tomorrow and the key to the development of their countries. Investing in their health means investing in a better future. DSW is deeply concerned about the promotion of girls, since girls are hit particularly hard by poverty, disease and injustice. They bear a great burden, while at the same time play a key role for sustainable development.
Offering Young People Prospects for the Future
Our experience has shown that information work is particularly successful when combined with offering young people a new perspective for their lives. A person with prospects will act with greater responsibility for his or her body. Young people who believe in their future are more motivated to deliberately protect themselves from HIV/AIDS infection and unwanted pregnancy. Accordingly, measures to improve the socio-economic situation of youth - for example through so-called Income Generating Activities (IGAs) - are an integral part of many of DSW's development projects.
Our project work has shown that young people who have an adequately paid job generally wish to have fewer children. Young people who are informed and have adequate access to family planning methods have only as many children as they actually wish to have. When these two factors are combined, young people can make an important contribution to the efforts to slow down population growth, one of the main reasons for the great poverty in these countries.
Protecting population and the environment
The more population increases, the more people compete for resources which are already scarce such as farmland, water and forest. This aggravates poverty and misery in populations that directly depend on these resources. DSW is convinced that protecting humanity and protecting nature are inextricably linked. Our response to this insight is integrated projects in which family planning, health care and environmental protection are combined.
