09 April 2025

UPSHIFT Across Borders

In Savannakhet province, Lao PDR, 19-year-old James saw a troubling trend in his farming community. “Air pollution gets worse every year because of burning rice straws after harvesting,” he explains. “It’s the fastest and cheapest way to prepare the land for the next planting.” Nearly 7,000 kilometres away in War...
07 March 2022

A safer digital world, one chat at a time

"Nandi is 17 and dropped out of school before graduating. She lives with her mother and younger siblings in Khayelitsha, a South African township. She spends her days doing chores or running errands, and in her down-time, messaging her friends or browsing instagram. Nandi has a boyfriend: an older guy with a relia...
11 October 2021

Oky: Trailblazing Girl-Centered Tech

Oky is the world’s first digital menstruation app co-created with and for girls., The app provides evidence-based information about periods, puberty, and reproductive health in fun, creative and positive ways, straight into girls’ hands. Oky is tailored to girls’ lives, language and digital realities and is curren...
28 April 2020

Oky: Co-created with girls, for girls

"I want to know what to do when I get my first period and what changes to expect during puberty so I feel prepared, assured and confident to manage them.” “I want to know if it is dangerous if I miss a period and if irregular periods are abnormal so I can stop being anxious." Girls have important questions about t...
17 July 2019

Grantee: Tupaia

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF are joining forces by accelerating Innovation for strengthening Vaccination Systems -- starting with better collection and use of critical data. UNICEF’s Innovation Fund is supporting eight grant recipients of the Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations Roun...