Support for Girls
The life of girls in sub-Saharan Africa is strongly shaped while they are still young. In many developing countries, girls are married at the age of 14 and shortly afterwards they already expect their first child. More then 14 million girls between 15 and 19 years of age give birth every year (more >). Teenage pregnancies do not only force them to quit school but also brings along great health hazards: Teenage girls have a doubled risk to die during pregnancy or birth.
With our development projects and advocacy work, DSW increases awareness in Europe and in Africa itself and advocates for educational opportunities. Our objective is to break through the circuit of unwanted pregnancy, school dropouts, unemployment and poverty. We aim to empower women and adolescents to live a healthy and self-chosen life.
DSW Berlin: Putting Girls at the Focus
For a sustainable promotion of girls, it is important to link the areas of education and health with each other. Without information and adequate education, girls do not know their sexual rights and have no idea of how to make use of the health services offered to them. The implementation of this insight within the programmes of the German development ministry (BMZ) must be strengthened - this is what DSW promotes.
Our advocacy related to girls' issues is a meaningful supplement to DSW's project work on the ground. We use our experiences from the project work to give decision–makers in Germany an idea of the situation of girls in developing countries. Through our All Party Group on Population and Development, we have a close exchange of ideas on girls' promotion with members of the Bundestag.
The Mothers' Night 2011 with the motto "Pregnant as a Girl – Vulnerable Girls in Developing Countries" focused on vulnerable girls in the Global South. A panel discussion of experts from Kenya and Nepal and German MPs from the fields of education and health was at the centre of this event and resulted in a lively exchange of ideas regarding the political and financial opportunities for the promotion of girls in the future.
In close consultation with our East African country offices and based on the experiences from our own development projects we always keep track of local needs.
