EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative

The specific problem that EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative is solving is the profound issue of menstrual hygiene inequality. This problem manifests in several ways:

• Menstrual Stigma and Shame: In many rural communities, menstruation is stigmatized, and girls are made to feel ashamed about a natural biological process. This cultural taboo has led to silence and isolation among girls, causing them to suffer in silence.
• Inadequate Access to Menstrual Products: Economic challenges often limit girls’ access to proper menstrual products. The increasing cost of sanitary products have led girls to resort to unsanitary alternatives like rags or tissue paper, putting their health at risk. Report have shown that about 500 million girls and women worldwide, experience menstrual poverty. In Nigeria alone, 37 million girls can  afford to purchase menstrual products.
• Educational Disruption: Poor menstrual hygiene management results in girls missing school days during their periods. This absence can affect their academic performance and, over time, hinder their overall education and prospects. Evidence has shown that 1 in 10 girls misses out of school during their menstruation. Leading to disruption in their learning.

EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative addresses these issues head-on by providing:

• An inter-connected SRHR club: we will establish an SRHR club across several secondary schools within South-East Nigeria. These clubs would serve as a support system for all girls and provide them the opportunity and knowledge to be stakeholders in affairs regarding their menstrual and sexual health. The inter-connectedness of these clubs would help breed collaborations, innovations, and a common ground for advancing SRHR across South-East
• Reusable, Eco-friendly SafePads: We provide reusable menstrual pads that are affordable, eco-friendly, and made from sustainable materials. These pads are designed to be long-lasting, offering a hygienic and cost-effective alternative to disposable products, and ensuring that girls have long-term access to hygienic menstrual products without economic constraints.
• Comprehensive Menstrual Health Education: We will implement educational programs in schools, educating both girls and boys about menstrual health and hygiene. This initiative will empower girls with knowledge about menstrual health and hygiene. Educating both girls and boys in schools aims to break the silence surrounding menstruation and dispel harmful myths. Our solution also fosters open conversations about menstruation, challenging societal norms and stigmas. Through open discussions and normalized conversations about menstruation, EcoFlow is working to change societal attitudes. This approach will help girls overcome feelings of shame, boosting their confidence and enabling them to manage their periods with dignity.
• Integration into School Curriculum: We advocate for the integration of menstrual health and hygiene education into the school curriculum. By making this education a standard part of the learning experience, we ensure a sustainable impact, reaching generations of students.
• SafePad Banks: We will establish SafePad banks within schools, ensuring easy access to menstrual products. The establishment of SafePad banks in schools ensures accessibility. Girls can readily access these products, eliminating a barrier between them and their education. This ensures that no girl misses school due to a lack of menstrual supplies. 

By combining these elements, EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative offers a solution that not only provides essential menstrual products but also educates, empowers, and supports girls, breaking the cycle of menstrual stigma and enabling them to pursue education without disruption.

EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative serves girls and young women in underserved communities, as well as the broader society. Our solution aims to make a significant impact on their lives in the following ways:

1. Girls and Young Women:

• Access to Safe and Affordable Menstrual Products: EcoFlow ensures that girls have consistent access to reusable, eco-friendly SafePads, mitigating the financial burden associated with menstrual products. This accessibility promotes good hygiene and health.
• Comprehensive Education: By imparting knowledge about menstrual health and hygiene, we empower girls to understand their bodies, manage their periods effectively, and address related health issues, leading to improved overall well-being.
• Confidence and Dignity: Through education and breaking the stigma, girls gain confidence, enabling them to navigate their menstrual cycles without shame. This newfound confidence positively impacts their self-esteem and mental health.
• 2. Boys and Young Men:

• Promoting Empathy and Understanding: By educating boys about menstruation, EcoFlow fosters empathy and understanding. This knowledge breaks down societal taboos and promotes respectful attitudes toward menstruating individuals, contributing to a more inclusive and supportive community.
• 3. Schools and Educational Institutions:
• Improved Attendance and Performance: Ensuring girls have access to menstrual products and education means fewer missed school days due to periods. This leads to improved attendance, reducing educational disparities and enhancing academic performance.
• Creating Supportive Environments: Integrating menstrual health education into the curriculum and establishing both an SRHR club and SafePad banks create a supportive school environment where menstruating students feel comfortable and confident, enhancing their overall educational experience.
• In summary, EcoFlow: SafePad Initiative serves girls, young women, boys, schools, and communities by providing access to menstrual products, comprehensive education, and support systems. The impact is profound, fostering physical health, mental well-being, educational empowerment, and social equality, creating a positive ripple effect in society

Our team is well-positioned to carry out this project through the connection we share with our target demography and diversified nature of all team members which is expressed below;

• 5 of the team members are all members of the various southeast states where our project would run. We grew up just like our target demographics, and we are initiating this project out of a felt and real needs. We also understand these states' political, economic, and educational landscape, and have vital negotiation skills required for scaling any start-up. One of the team members is a member of a proximal state not far from our target state, which gives our project an avenue for expansion when need be.
• All team members are notable menstrual hygiene advocate who has years of experience working with and implementing projects around SRHR. We have visited several schools, educated thousands of girls, listened to their stories, and supported and empowered them. Our teams have first-hand experience with the group our project is targeted at.
• Through implementation of similar projects in schools we are well equipped and understands the ethics and importance of community mobilization/participation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects, and the need for stockholders’ involvement in all initiative to breed sustainability. 2 of the Team members are educators in various schools, who have experience facilitating and educating young people. They have worked with our target population for years, and understand their needs.
• All team members have reached out to various schools selling our project of establishing an SRHR club, which has been a welcomed development by those schools.
• We have team spirit which is reflected in our engagement in the Global Goal World Cup tournament, a competition that aims to promote the SDGs through teamwork, innovations, actions, and creativity.

To test the acceptability of SafePad, and the idea of an SRHR club in various schools across Southeast, we have

• Visited more than 10 secondary schools, educated them, and introduced SafePad to them as an alternative choice for menstrual hygiene management.
• About 1,000 schoolgirls have been reached through our advocacy
• Qualitative feedback has been gotten from these girls as they are excited about the Product and the SRHR club initiatives.
• We have organized many webinars around SRHR and have reached many people online through our campaigns and constructive posts on our various social media pages. 

Our project has demonstrated innovation in the following ways.

• An inter-connected SRHR club: This would be a first of its kind in Nigeria. Through our SRHR club, we are not only empowering girls, rather we are making them cheerleaders in affairs concerning their health. They would be able to provide support for other girls both in and out of school. Through a sense of commitment and the community-bounding experiences these girls experience through these clubs, they become leaders and advocates of SRHR in the future.
• An online community: through an online community of all SRHR clubs across the various states, we would be building a community of SRHR warriors who can support each other. Monitoring and evaluation of the club’s activities becomes easy. Networking and future collaborations among clubs are also sparkled. This would breed an innovative ground for advancing SRHR.
• SafePad Bank: the cost and plastic pollution risk posed by disposable menstrual products can't be overemphasized. Through SafePad, a reusable antimicrobial treated pad with a shelf life of 5 years, we would be promoting sustainable menstrual health. The establishment of Pad Banks containing these products makes it easy for girls to study without disruption. These Banks would also aid the activities of the various clubs without constraints.

For the next year

Having up to 10 SRHR clubs running across the Southeast states

Up to 10 SafePad banks across these schools where the clubs are located.

An online community connecting these clubs and advancing more SRHR education.

For the next 5 years

• Up to 50 SRHR clubs running across the states.
• Up to 50 SafePad banks would be established across these schools.
• Kick-off of an Annual competition that brings together these clubs for the purpose of advancing the landscape of SRHR and holding side events, where researchers can showcase their works.
• A multi-purpose Website that would hold evidence and reports of our conference, self-paced youth friendly SRHR courses, a webpage showcasing each club's activities and impacts, and information/ opportunities around SRHR.
• How do we achieve this?
  
  • Through workshops and training in the various schools, before initiating the clubs
  • Through collaboration with the various school managements, selling our projects and implementing them.
  • Collaboration with Real Relief company, a company we have worked closely with over the past 3 years, to ensure the availability of SafePad.
  • Collaboration with other Grassroot NGOs to promote more reach of our project.
  • Working with the various Ministry of Health of the various states, to enable us to get support.

Our solution would have a lasting impact on menstrual poverty and lack of knowledge regarding SRHR because;

• Through the SafePad banks that our project would establish in Various schools, menstrual products would become easily accessible and available to all girls.
• Since SafePad is Reusable with a Shelf Life of 5 years which is almost the number of years spent in secondary school, just a pack of the product is enough to ensure that girls don’t miss out on school due to menstrual reasons.
• Our SRHR club would also serve as a support system, where girls support each other and become cheerleaders in affairs concerning their health.
•  Through the comprehensive training we would provide, more girls would become knowledgeable about their sexual reproductive health.
• Through the inclusiveness of boys in our SRHR training we would be creating an enabling and friendly environment for all girls to menstruate and exercise their rights without fear of humiliation by the men folks.
• Through our partnership with school management towards inculcating SRHR education in their school curriculum, we would be breaking the generational lack of knowledge and stigma surrounding menstrual health and SRHR.

6 all full-time staffs

3 years

Our team is made up of diverse professionals, who contribute to the growth of our solution through their individual and professional experiences. Our solution aims to reach about 6 states in Nigeria. These states although share common boundaries and histories, still have their individual differences in terms of a certain culture, way of life, governance, and economy. The diverse nature of our team helps us approach each state uniquely.

The students our solutions are targeted at, are from different backgrounds, they have different upbringings and stories. The schools themselves have their individual differences from other schools. Through our online community, we would be bringing together these students from diverse backgrounds for a common aim of promoting menstrual health.

We are strong advocates of equity and inclusivity; hence young men are also included in our SRHR education because we can’t truly achieve equality if anyone is left behind. Through including men in these issues, we create an inclusive and friendly environment for all.

We are also collaborating with various schools, NGOs, ministry of health, companies, and government to ensure everyone involvement in promoting SRHR solutions.

Business model for Eco Flow; SafePad Initiative

Beneficiaries/ clients

• Adolescent schoolgirls: these groups are the immediate consumers of our solution. Through the SRHR clubs, they learn leadership skills, community-bounding experiences, and teamwork skills that can aid them as a cheerleader of their own sexual health. Through the SafePad banks, they would have long-term access to eco-friendly, antimicrobial-treated menstrual products. our training would also make them be better informed.
• School Managements: The initiation of pad banks in their various schools, including the training and the SRHR education, we would be creating an enabling environment for learning.

Services/products

• An inter-connected SRHR Club: we establish inter-connected SRHR clubs across various schools in six states in Nigeria, linking them through an online community and an annual gathering. This would promote the landscape of the SRHR community and breed innovations, also serving as a support system for all girls.
• A SafePad Bank: establishing Reusable Pad bank across these various schools. This would help promote accessibility and availability of menstrual products in schools, thereby reducing absentees from school.
• Comprehensive SRHR training: we provide a comprehensive SRHR trainings for both boys and girls, in these various schools. This would help breed an enabling environment for all.

Delivery Mode

• The SRHR clubs are established through a well-structured framework, which would help inform the activities of the clubs and ensure sustainability.
• The SafePad banks would be established in Partnership with Real Relief company, a company we have worked with for the past 3 years, to provide quality and durable products.
• Our comprehensive education would be delivered through collaboration with school management, ministry of health and other grassroot NGOs.

Value

• Our solution offers a lasting solution to menstrual Poverty and lack of support system on SRHR related issues.
• Our solution fosters a conducive learning environment in all schools which can improve learning outcomes.

Revenue

Our revenue would be generated through multiple streams including donations, grants, partnerships, sponsorship, and fee charges for business that would indicate interest in showcasing their products during our annual conference.

Multiple streams of income are essential for any start up, hence below are description of how we intend to achieve financial sustainability as an NGO.

• Crowd funding projects to raise funds.
• donations from organizations, NGOs, government, and individuals.
• Grant applications for calls around SRHR to support the work we do.
• Fee charges for side events and business showcase in our annual competition/conferences