DSW’s activities are focused on promoting sustainable demographic development, empowering women and their role in society, reducing and limiting the spread of HIV/AIDS, and improving the quality of life of young people in developing countries. DSW runs a Youth-to-Youth Initiative in East Africa that attempts to empower youth to play an active role in improving Sexual & Reproductive Health in their communities and their countries, through peer education, advocacy and income-generating activities. In implementing this program, DSW supports over 1,000 youth clubs with a combined total membership of 30,000 youth and adolescents. In Europe, DSW is involved in awareness-raising activities about the links between population dynamics, environment and health. Abroad, DSW promotes development projects in countries with a high need for family planning, sexual and reproductive health education and other services related to SRH, particularly those countries most afflicted by poor indicators for Millennium Development Goals 3 and 5. Officially registered as a foundation under German law, DSW provides sub-granting to other civil society actors advocating in the field of SRH, in addition to conducting advocacy itself. DSW seeks to engage both corporate and political actors to ensure that sexual and reproductive health education and contraception is strengthened and financially supported in developing countries. This includes activities such as liaising with governments, parliamentarians and partner organizations at the national and international levels in Europe and the Global South to vote in favour of SRH-related legislation, or to increase funding for sexual and reproductive health programmes generally. DSW produces an annual Euromapping report, which scrutinizes EU Official Development Assistance commitments and disbursements. DSW also plays a capacity building role in developing countries to increase civil society's ability to advocate effectively towards governments and donors to integrate SRH in their ODA contributions. DSW runs two training centres in Uganda and Ethiopia, supported by German women’s clothing chain BONITA GmbH & Co. KG, that focus on the capacity building of youth-serving organizations to address questions about health, sexuality and contraception. In 2005, DSW helped found the Alfred Biolek Stiftung on AIDS in Africa, and continues to provide administrative support for their activities. DSW relies on the advice of notable international experts and public figures on various thematic issues, including Alfred Biolek, Margot Käßmann, Nafis Sadik, Rita Sussmuth, Klaus Topfer and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsaecker.
