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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Preventing AIDS through
social marketing of contraceptives
Guidelines for intervention
German Development Ministry budget for 2005
German Development Ministry concept on fighting AIDS
Malaria vaccine testing successful
Small loans, big impacts
400 billion dollars annually in bribes
“Leave us in peace!”
Separating civilian aid and the military
12/2004
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[ KfW evaluation report ]
Preventing AIDS through
social marketing of contraceptives
According to KfW development bank, three out of four of its projects have successful outcomes. The latest KfW evaluation report assessed 94 of the 127 projects investigated (74 percent) as “successful from a development viewpoint”. 13 projects were considered as “no longer sufficient” despite some positive aspects. Ten projects were deemed “inadequate” by KfW’s evaluation division headed by Professor Hans-Rimbert Hemmer (University of Giessen). When the report was presented in Frankfurt in November, German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul praised the “high level of competency and effectiveness” of German financial cooperation. The independent evaluators had investigated all projects completed during the 2002/2003 period.
Projects aimed at preventing the spread of AIDS through “social marketing” were a focus of the report. This term applies to using commercial marketing strategies (in this case for contraceptives) with a social objective in mind. According to Hemmer, advertising along with radio/TV campaigns has been highly effective in changing behaviour patterns and increasing the use of condoms in many countries. Chosing new distribution channels reinforces sexual education and advertising. For instance, condoms are being made available where those most at-risk are likely to be found, such as red light districts. In Malawi, the share of bars selling condoms increased from 45 to 85 percent between 1997 and 2001. The idea is to fix the price of condoms supplied in social marketing scheme at a level ensuring that couples spend a maximum of one percent of their income on contraception.
According to Wolfgang Kroh of KfW’s board of directors, project failures are normally caused by external factors such as natural disasters or political crises. He says that any financial cooperation entails a certain degree of risk. A development bank insisting on 100 percent security of success would have forgotten its own raison d’etre. After all, its purpose was to close capital gaps left by more risk-averse commercial banks. (orb)
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