Youth Empowerment
Almost half of the world's population is younger than 25 years of age. 70 per cent live in developing countries (read more >). Adolescents are the parents of tomorrow. Their choices regarding education and Family Planning strongly influence the development of their country and its society. Therefore, the transfer of knowledge and education in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights helps them to make informed and autonomous decisions.
They often lack access to sexual and reproductive health care services. Youth clubs are supposed to supplement this need. With DSW's aid and its development projects such as the Youth-to-Youth initiative boys and girls between the age of 10 and 24 get a chance to share knowledge and ask questions to their peer educators. Furthermore, contraceptives are distributed and HIV/AIDS tests are taken. The projects are backed-up by comprehensive advocacy work in order to assure Sexual and Reproductive Rights and a consistent investment in the parents of tomorrow.
DSW Berlin: An Advocate for Young People in Developing Countries
With its countless youth clubs in Eastern Africa, DSW is a natural advocate of the rights of young people in developing countries. Thereby we focus on the protection of their sexual and reproductive rights. This includes, for example, ensuring access to information and contraceptives.
On the basis of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (1994) we lobby the German government to advance the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights using the human rights-based approach. German development cooperation programmes must ensure that comprehensive information, age and culture-sensitive education and access to various sexual and reproductive health services are provided with a focus on the needs of young people. This is what we advocate, while giving special attention to the area of girls' empowerment.
We maintain a constant exchange with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development and the German implementing agencies Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and KfW Development Bank, politicians in the German Bundestag, scientists and other civil society organisations which are active in this field. We organise events to foster the dialogue with young people in developing countries. In addition, we put youth on the international agenda within the framework of G8, EU and UN meetings. For example, DSW recently consulted the German government as a member of the German delegation of the UN Commission on Population and Development.
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.
