Social development is a priority of development cooperation. A comparison of social indicators illustrates how urgently improvements are needed in the social sector in developing countries: while the average life expectancy has risen, and infant mortality rates are down, illiteracy rates remain high, with women and girls disproportionately affected. Health care is also totally inadequate in many parts of the world. Wars, HIV/AIDS and widening income gaps within countries worsen the problem of poverty, and make social integration all the more difficult.

One fundamental precondition for poverty reduction and social development is that all people have equal access to public services, information and natural resources. At the same time, human rights must be respected, democracy and the rule of law ensured, and civil society and its interest groups given the opportunity to participate in the drafting of strategies to fight poverty. Then and only then can programmes be designed in line with actual needs, such that their impacts are sustainable.

InWEnt supports reform projects in the fields of health, education and basic social services, so as to enhance the quality and sustainability of the systems, and to ensure access for the poor. Our HIV/AIDS programmes aim to achieve improvements not only in the health sector, but also in terms of jobs and social security.