Menstrual products
create jobs

Insufficient access to adequate and affordable menstrual products

In Ethiopia, less than 45 per cent of women and girls have access to menstrual products. For the majority of women and girls, these products are too expensive and are also difficult to find in rural areas. Home-made solutions made of material are often unhygienic and carry a risk of infection, which can lead to infertility or complications during birth. They are also associated with higher maternal mortality rates. Social restrictions during menstruation are also an issue – taboos affect participation in school and at the workplace, in particular. The associated losses can be felt in households and even have a macroeconomic impact.

Ethiopian company Mela for Her is addressing these challenges. It produces reusable fabric pads that are advertised and distributed via a network of women in rural areas. The company is entering a large growth market and therefore wants to expand. However, to do so it needs support in implementing quality standards. These enable compliance with national Ethiopian requirements for this product category and thus distribution to commercial customers such as supermarkets or retailers. In addition, female customers' confidence in the products is strengthened.

Promoting production and sales, facilitating access, spreading knowledge and creating jobs

Invest for Jobs has been working with Mela for Her since June 2022 to promote the production of reusable pads made of OEKO-TEX certified materials. The partnership has two objectives: first, to create good jobs for women and people from vulnerable groups in production and sales, and second to make people aware of the availability of affordable menstrual products in rural areas.

With support from Invest for Jobs, training is being provided for women in sales, production and quality assurance. Twenty of the participants will receive jobs in production and quality assurance at Mela for Her and ten others will receive jobs at partner firms. One hundred women freelancers trained by Invest for Jobs will be selling the products door to door in rural areas. This allows direct, woman to woman contact in regions where menstruation is particularly taboo. In addition to selling products, the saleswomen play an important role in raising awareness on menstrual health and thus contribute to improving the health of women and girls, who then have the opportunity to go to work and attend school.

Mela for Her’s business idea fills an economic and social gap. However, to expand sales, the company needs to be able to ensure that international quality standards are met. The Alliance for Product Quality in Africa (AfPQ), part of Invest for Jobs, is providing support in this area. The company and its suppliers are developing capacity in quality management according to the international ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14000 standards and achieving the corresponding certification.

Creating jobs and expanding the partner network

Since the training began, Mela for Her has improved its processes and created new jobs in production and sales. After taking part in training courses on quality management and production techniques, 15 staff members from a partner company have also transferred their new knowledge to their own company. The support has allowed Mela for Her to increase its production capacity by more than 50 per cent.

The jobs already created and those set to be created will enable the women to earn a regular income in the long term. Knowledge around menstruation and the products available will be shared in rural areas, in particular, giving especially vulnerable groups better access to the topic and to the products themselves.

The project with Mela for Her is being supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the framework of the Special Initiative on "Decent Work for a Just Transition" on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).