Discover DSW
We are committed to achieving our vision of a healthy and sustainable world in which all young people, especially girls and young women, can fully realise their true potential. Central to our mission is championing young people’s access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, realising Africa’s demographic dividend through a rights-based approach. Covid-19 has taught us that a healthy and sustainable world also requires investing in global health innovations to fight current and future epidemics that impact particularly young people.
WHAT WE'RE WORKING FOR
DSW has a mission to support young people living in Africa to overcome the multiple obstacles that stand in their way – in particular issues to do with SRHR, such as gender-based discrimination and coercive practices, and infectious diseases, which disproportionately affect young women and girls. Access to the right health tools and services is key to overcoming these obstacles.
HOW WE WORK
We work hand-in-hand with young people empowering them as actors of change, promote an enabling environment for their self-fulfilment, and foster meaningful and inclusive youth participation in the decisions that affect their lives. We advocate at local, national, and international political levels, including at EU level, to advance SRHR and global health policies wherever we can.
WHO WE WORK FOR
For over 25 years DSW has worked with young people in ensuring access to SRHR information, services, and supplies; supporting community outreach focused on developing peer education, life skills, leadership, advocacy, and economic empowerment.
WANT TO KNOW MORE
LATEST NEWS
POWER to Women Entrepreneurs in Uganda!
The ‘Providing Opportunities for Women in Entrepreneurship and Reproductive Health’ project, or quite simply POWER for short, is a brand new jo...
Kenya: We should empower our children to detect, report harmful practices against them
Childhood ought to come with innocence, freedom and playfulness. But this is not always the case. In many places across the world, children bear nu...
DSW Ethiopia Triumphs in Advocacy
DSW Ethiopia is triumphing in an environment that was not very open to NGO engagement until recent years, by hosting and engaging in a series of ad...
Let’s normalise menstrual health conversations
Menstrual health has been dogged by myths and misconceptions, some of which have made everything around the natural body processes taboo. The sad b...
DSW Ethiopia Launches a Revised AYSRH Manual
DSW’s Adolescent and Youth Sexual & Reproductive Health (AYSRH) Manual, was launched during a half day workshop at Aphrodite Hotel on 28 Apri...
Lifeyangu.com: Youth can now access SRH information and services with new digital platform
We wanted a digital solution that is simple, accessible, and easy to find; a platform that aims at reducing the pressure points for young people as...
It’s time to prioritise women and girls in HIV vaccine research, and the EU must play its part
In 2020, women and girls accounted for 63% of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, with young women in the region twice as likely to be li...
Breaking taboos and shaping the future
Naserian and Marian report from the youth clubs in Tanzania When Naserian first came to the youth club, she couldn’t believe what she was hea...
The largest biomedical research partnership between Europe and Africa launched today
The following article was authored by Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Board Chair of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP...
Harnessing the potential of research and innovation to protect women from malaria
The following article was co-authored by MEPs Javi López Fernández and Nicolás González Casares, and published online by Spanish newspaper La V...
We want to ensure that every young person has the power to realise their own future.
By advancing access to and demand for SRHR, we are making this happen.
