Jesselina Rana and Shubhangi Rana
Nationality: Nepal
Organization Name: Pad2Go
Impact Region: Southern Asia
About the Social Business: Pad2Go is a social venture focusing on menstrual health management in Nepal. It follows a three-fold approach to make a holistic impact, i.e, provision of sanitary products through our sanitary napkin vending machines, awareness and advocacy programs regarding the social taboos behind menstruation and provision of sanitary facilities in rural communities using some percentage of our profit.
About the Y&Y Fellow: Shubhangi Rana and Jesselina Rana are the co-founders of Pad2Go, a social enterprise that focuses on promoting menstrual health management in Nepal. It was established in 2018, motivated by the co founders’ own experiences with restrictive taboos and stigma faced by women in Nepal during their menstrual cycle. The co founders’ a Lawyer and an Engineer, determined to do away with age old practices, have introduced innovative approaches to overcome challenges in the menstrual health sector.We envision a society free from menstrual stigma along with easy and affordable access menstrual health products. Pad2Go in 2018 were pioneers in introducing Nepal’s first sanitary napkin vending machines. In a short span of one year Pad2Go has been able to install over 100 machines across 6 out of the 7 provinces in Nepal. Each machine is able to sustain a minimum of 200 girls and women. The Pad2Go team visualizes a society free from obstacles hampering growth and empowerment of women.One of the major obstacles is the restrictive norms and practices associated with menstruation in Nepal. In order to focus on the menstrual health sector holistically the team implements a threefold approach.
1.Access to sanitary products through an innovative approach of sanitary napkin vending machines.
2.Workshops are held with school and college level students in an inclusive manner with both male and female students to normalize discourse around menstruation and the taboos associated with it.
3. Third, the team has had the opportunity to collaborate with pad manufacturers both international and local and provide pads at less than market rate in order ensure affordability.
Profitable proceeds from the pads and 10% profit from each machine are then re-integrated back into the rural communities to build gender and disability friendly toilets and sanitation facilities in far-western Nepal. With this they aim to implement the robin-hood effect, redistribution of income to reduce economic inequality. (Help us, help you, help others!)
Pad2Go won the first prize at the 35th AGUASAN workshop – “Advancing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRTWS) through inclusive business approaches” in Switzerland, receiving a grant of 5000 Swiss Francs and mentorship opportunity to scale the business.
Pad2Go also won the second prize at Women’s forum For the Economy and Society, Singapore at the startup pitch contest for Asian women led businesses in collaboration with INSEAD and Facebook.
Jesselina Rana and Shubhangi Rana
Nationality: Nepal
Organization Name: Pad2Go
Impact Region: Southern Asia
About the Social Business: Pad2Go is a social venture focusing on menstrual health management in Nepal. It follows a three-fold approach to make a holistic impact, i.e, provision of sanitary products through our sanitary napkin vending machines, awareness and advocacy programs regarding the social taboos behind menstruation and provision of sanitary facilities in rural communities using some percentage of our profit.
About the Y&Y Fellow: Shubhangi Rana and Jesselina Rana are the co-founders of Pad2Go, a social enterprise that focuses on promoting menstrual health management in Nepal. It was established in 2018, motivated by the co founders’ own experiences with restrictive taboos and stigma faced by women in Nepal during their menstrual cycle. The co founders’ a Lawyer and an Engineer, determined to do away with age old practices, have introduced innovative approaches to overcome challenges in the menstrual health sector.We envision a society free from menstrual stigma along with easy and affordable access menstrual health products. Pad2Go in 2018 were pioneers in introducing Nepal’s first sanitary napkin vending machines. In a short span of one year Pad2Go has been able to install over 100 machines across 6 out of the 7 provinces in Nepal. Each machine is able to sustain a minimum of 200 girls and women. The Pad2Go team visualizes a society free from obstacles hampering growth and empowerment of women.One of the major obstacles is the restrictive norms and practices associated with menstruation in Nepal. In order to focus on the menstrual health sector holistically the team implements a threefold approach.
1.Access to sanitary products through an innovative approach of sanitary napkin vending machines.
2.Workshops are held with school and college level students in an inclusive manner with both male and female students to normalize discourse around menstruation and the taboos associated with it.
3. Third, the team has had the opportunity to collaborate with pad manufacturers both international and local and provide pads at less than market rate in order ensure affordability.
Profitable proceeds from the pads and 10% profit from each machine are then re-integrated back into the rural communities to build gender and disability friendly toilets and sanitation facilities in far-western Nepal. With this they aim to implement the robin-hood effect, redistribution of income to reduce economic inequality. (Help us, help you, help others!)
Pad2Go won the first prize at the 35th AGUASAN workshop – “Advancing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRTWS) through inclusive business approaches” in Switzerland, receiving a grant of 5000 Swiss Francs and mentorship opportunity to scale the business.
Pad2Go also won the second prize at Women’s forum For the Economy and Society, Singapore at the startup pitch contest for Asian women led businesses in collaboration with INSEAD and Facebook.
