THRIVE: Restoring Dignity to Adolescent Girls on the Move One Month at a Time
The THRIVE project builds health, social, and economic assets in adolescent girls through a reusable menstrual pad and related training.


What problem does the idea help to solve and how does your solution work? (2,000 characters maximum)

Geography of focus (500 characters)
We are focusing our pilot on host communities in northern Uganda, refugees coming from South Sudan and displaced in the West Nile region of Uganda, and internally displaced persons and host communities in northeast Nigeria. These conflict or post-conflict areas are where ChildVoice is currently working with large numbers of displaced adolescent girls and boys.Building Bridges: What bridge does your idea build between people on the move and neighbors towards a shared future of stability and promise? (500 characters)
Regardless of whether a girl is on the move or established in a community, it is easy to make the case that every girl needs menstrual hygiene products to thrive as they journey through adolescence on their way towards empowerment and independence. Highlighting this basic need for all girls and our solution creates a bridge between the host community and people living in displacement to create tangible ways to work together in peace to provide stability and hope for a brighter future for all.What human need is your idea solving for? (1,000 characters)
One of the realities of forced displacement is that people on the move will find themselves without an adequate means of support. As a result, most will now be living below the poverty line. At risk for adolescent girls in these situations is the opportunity to attend and remain in school. While many humanitarian organizations work to provide schools, teachers, and educational supplies for displaced children, there is a serious lack of menstrual hygiene products and training for girls who are moving into their adolescent years. Girls may lack a combination of the following: any menstrual hygiene products whatsoever, sufficient amounts of products, or even underwear. As a result, many girls won’t attend school one week out of each month, falling further and further behind their peers. In time, they drop out of school altogether, thus becoming vulnerable for early marriage, pregnancy, and exploitation.What will be different within the community of focus as a result of implementing your idea? (1,000 characters)
First, a higher percentage of girls living in displacement, as well as their counterparts in the host communities, will stay in school and complete their education because they will have access to an appropriate menstrual pad. Second, these girls will have a heightened and a more complete understanding of the interactive nature of menstrual hygiene and health with respect to their bodies, psychosocial wholeness, and building healthy relationships. As a result, there will be a reduction in risky behavior, less exploitation, later marriages and pregnancies, and more responsible citizenship. Third, boys with an understanding of menstruation and other cultural practices that marginalize girls and women will be more supportive and responsible for the girls and women in their lives as they mature into manhood. Lastly, the THRIVE pad project will provide economic opportunity to trained local tailors and beneficiaries to make these pads from locally sourced materials.What is the inspiration behind your idea? (1,000 characters)
Denise Stasik, a ChildVoice volunteer, grew up in poverty in the Appalachian region of the US in the 1960s. Her family was not able to afford menstrual products for her during her adolescence. Faced with the embarrassment of going to school without a menstrual pad, her mother came up with a creative solution – a reusable pad that could be changed during the day and washed at night. Experiencing the power of that menstrual solution, Denise began work on a prototype of the pad she hoped might change the lives of girls growing up in poverty anywhere. Over the past 18 years, Denise worked to perfect her pad design and began testing it in places throughout East Africa. During the testing process, she became aware that most girls were not aware of the physiological changes that occur during puberty and she realized that an educational component was necessary to realize the full benefit of her reusable pad design. Unable to scale this project on her own, she reached out to ChildVoice to help.Describe the dynamics of the community in which the idea is to be implemented. (1,000 characters)





How does your idea leverage and empower community strengths and assets to help create an environment for success? (1,000 characters)
ChildVoice is leveraging the commonly understood menstrual needs of adolescent girls to bring together the leadership and members of both communities to solve a community-wide problem. ChildVoice hosts an ongoing dialogue between host community leaders and refugee/IDP leaders to create forums for airing concerns and finding solutions. Agreeing on a solution that meets the menstrual needs of both of their adolescent girls has helped to build trust and relationship between the two communities. To better understand the needs of the refugee/IDP population, ChildVoice intentionally recruits staff from this population. For instance, in Uganda, we have five staff and nine community organizers that are currently refugees themselves. We are also beginning to hire staff from our beneficiaries as they reach adulthood. Additionally, we encourage our staff to live in the host communities to better understand the needs and concerns of the host community.What other partners or stakeholders will work alongside you in implementing the idea, if any? (1,000 characters)
USA: Churches Rotary Clubs Sewing guilds Uganda: Office of the Prime Minister UNHCR International Rescue Committee, Uganda OxFam Save the Children World Vision International Care International Plan International Red Cross, Uganda Action Against Hunger TPO, Uganda Rotary Club, Arua Rotary Club, Gulu Local tailors, including our beneficiaries Nigeria: UNFPA UNOCHA International Organization for Migration (IOM) Plan International, International Rescue Committee, Nigeria National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Search for Common Ground Rotary Club, Yola Local tailors, including our beneficiariesWhat part of the displacement journey is your solution addressing
- Arriving and settling at a destination community
Tell us how you'd describe the type of innovation you are proposing
- Product: A new or enhanced physical product that creates value for end beneficiaries
Idea Proposal Stage
- Pilot: We have started to implement the idea as a whole with a first set of real users. The feasibility of an innovation is tested in a small-scale and real world application (i.e. 3-15% of the target population)
Group or Organization Name
ChildVoice InternationalTell us more about your group or organization [or lived experience as a displaced person?] (1000 characters)
ChildVoice’s work in rehabilitating and empowering the most marginalized, war-affected adolescent girls has positioned us to respond directly to challenges in displacement contexts. After over a decade of working with the most at-risk girls through a center-based program and more recently through community-based programs, ChildVoice has witnessed the new sense of hope vulnerable and traumatized girls experience when they receive sustained and comprehensive support in their healing and empowerment process. ChildVoice is committed to implementing solutions which integrate the physical, psychosocial, developmental, and cultural components necessary to bring about long-term impact. As we empower forcibly displaced girls to overcome their vulnerabilities, we committed to developing a project that specifically addresses the menstrual health need as part of a comprehensive approach to build a girl’s psychosocial health, her potential to remain in school, and improve her quality of life.Website URL:
www.childvoice.orgType of submitter
- We are a registered Non-Profit Organization
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CommentSimon Pestano
Conrad Mandsager