Oky menstruation education and period tracker app for girls, by girls

Menstruation is one of the most confounding, yet prevalent and outdated taboos of our time. Worldwide, more than 1.8 billion women and girls menstruate, but millions still face discrimination, harassment, and social exclusion due to deeply ingrained stigma and pervasive misinformation and myths surrounding menstruation and reproductive health. In Nepal for example chhaupadi is a dangerous practice requiring menstruating women and girls to stay in small sheds away from home, which is harmful and sometimes deadly.

For adolescent girls and young women in developing countries, the lack of knowledge about available health services and evidence-based information negatively impacts their physical and mental health, hygiene, nutrition, education and employment, social interactions, relationships, and self-worth. 

Shame often prevents discussion of menstruation and reproductive health in schools, communities, or within families. Data shows adolescent girls are rarely prepared for menarche, making their first period a distressing or even horrifying experience. Girls report thinking they are dying or running to the hospital because of the bleeding. 

Menstrual health and SRH guidance is frequently fraught with myths, inaccuracies, unnecessary restrictions, or unsafe practices, perpetuating harmful gender norms. When girls search online for health information it is difficult to find trustworthy, quality information in their language or relevant to their lived experience or their context. 

Girls' online searches are also constrained by their lower levels of digital adoption and use – girls are less likely than boys to own or use a mobile device and thus have fewer digital skills. This gender digital divide is especially pronounced in developing and emergency contexts, and for marginalized girls including out-of-school, married or pregnant girls; those living in remote/unconnected areas; those with different ethnic and cultural identity; girls in emergency settings or on the move; girls living with HIV and girls with disabilities. Digital products often fail to consider girls’ data/connectivity limitations, the devices they access, their privacy and safety concerns, digital literacy levels, relevance of content, or gatekeeper restrictions, resulting in less exposure and furthering disadvantage.

Accessible, evidence-based and adolescent-friendly Information about menstruation, fertility, contraception, relationships, positive health behaviors, and where to get help when they need it, are invaluable. Providing girls with contextualized information on the devices they have access to, empowers them to gain agency over their bodies and navigate adolescence with confidence, make informed decisions, and access SRH or GBV services when they need it.  There is a need for investment to support and develop safe, localized digital platforms that help girls and young women gain better access to quality information about menstruation and SRHR, and connections with appropriate services, when needed.

Breaking the taboo of menstruation and reproductive health increases girls’ and women’s demand for SRH and GBV services and contributes to their health and well-being. 

Oky (okyapp.info) is the first open-source digital menstruation and SRH education and period tracker solution, co-created with and for girls in LMICs. By using Oky, adolescent girls learn about their body, puberty, and SRH in positive and empowering ways, while practicing and improving their digital literacy. Oky tackles taboos and misconceptions, offers quality, evidence-based information in local languages, and contains contact details of adolescent-friendly and vetted helplines, counseling, SRH and GBV services in each country, signposting health services for girls and young women when they need it. 

Built to meet the unique digital realities of girls, Oky works on low end devices and for phone sharing, and has the highest data protection and privacy by design. It works completely offline: users never need the internet to use Oky. Oky is gamified and was designed by girls to ensure that all users, regardless of digital literacy, can easily navigate the app, using visuals, simple user journeys, tutorials, and content in local languages. Oky also meets WCAG accessibility standards and girls with disabilities and their care-givers are included in Oky design and localisation processes.

Oky provides evidence-based SRH information in girl-friendly, local language. It improves girls’ ability to dispels myths and misinformation and educates girls about their fertility and their body. Oky supports the development of safe sexual practices, and reduces the risk of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.

But Oky is not only for girls, it is for everyone. Especially health workers, teachers, parents, can use Oky content to learn about adolescent health (available on Oky’s welcome screen without an account) to breach ‘sensitive’ topics with girls and boys and answer questions they may have. 

Oky is open-source, and has already been localized and deployed in 12+ countries around the world, using a social franchise business model for scaling. This innovative model facilitates scalability, localization, and sustainability by granting franchise licenses to local partners for social impact. UNICEF has transitioned from the role of the founder to a contributing partner, serving as a franchisor, technical advisor, capacity builder and supporter to local organizations, empowering them to lead and own Oky in their respective countries. The Oky social franchise model offers local partners a tested digital product with minimal financial outlay. In each new market, Oky is localized with the active engagement of girls and their communities, government counterparts, and ecosystem, with guidance and support from the Unicef Oky team. The social franchise model harnesses diversity, creativity, and diverse expertise. It enables multiple simultaneous deployments worldwide, facilitates rapid and cost-efficient product build-out (incl. low-tech products and frontier tech integration where relevant) through franchisees' peer-production and open source contributions, and stimulates learning, South-South collaboration, and the development of a GenderTech ecosystem.

Live in: Burundi, Indonesia, India WestBengal, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine, +global Oky app

Launch in 2024: Papua New Guinea 

Product demo: link

Oky’s primary target audience are adolescent girls aged 10-19 years, specifically those living in poverty in LMICs, whose access to information is constrained by the social stigma surrounding SRH and by digital inequality. As of April 2024, Oky has been localized and launched in 12 countries and has over 750,000 online users (+offline users), the majority of whom are adolescent girls.

Marginalized girls are particularly impacted by the lack of relevant information and health services, such as out-of-school, married or pregnant girls; those living in remote/unconnected areas; those with different ethnic and cultural identity; girls in emergency settings or on the move; girls living with HIV and girls with disabilities. In response, Oky is designed specifically to be inclusive, accessible, and relevant, and ensures their participation in the design process. This includes approaches to meet the needs of girls who do not have smart phones and/or internet access, such as offline functionality and multiple-user login for phone sharing, Oky peer-to-peer education approaches, and the development of low tech Oky versions, such as interactive voice response, and radio programs for community listening.

Secondary audiences include young women, boys, parents and caregivers, educators, health workers, religious leaders, and governments. Oky can help adults overcome personal discomfort to talk about periods, puberty, SRH and other sensitive topics. Oky also supports teachers and health providers to deliver sexuality education and contacts for SRH and GBV services are included in Oky to facilitate access to in-person support when needed.

Oky’s impacts the lives of adolescent girls by empowering them to navigate adolescence with confidence and make informed decisions over their SRH,and provides them with referral pathways to SRH and GBV services in their contexts. Oky builds users' knowledge about SRH, GBV, and healthy relationships and supports girls to develop positive attitudes towards their bodies and SRH. Oky also helps adult users overcome personal discomfort so they may better support adolescents’ SRH.

There is initial evidence from in-app surveys and pilot qualitative research, that Oky is delivering the intended outcomes:

• 82% of respondents in a global Oky in-app survey reported (n=700) learning new information from Oky; 84% trusted Oky information. 

• 97% of respondents to an Oky Indonesia in-app survey (n=1000) reported having a better understanding of SRH after using Oky; 92% agreed that Oky helped them distinguish myths from facts. This is supported by results from a qualitative study in Indonesia, where both adolescents and adults (including young women, teachers and counselors) reported Oky increased their knowledge. Adolescents noted being happy they were able to access sensitive content without embarrassment.

• 96% of respondents in a small Oky Philippines survey reported better SRH knowledge; 91% indicated they had learned new information from Oky; 92% reported trusting Oky and 54% said they had shared the Oky app or content with a peer.   

• Over a third of respondents from the Oky global and Indonesia surveys reported better awareness of SRH services in their areas and how to access them.

Girl-centred design is key for Oky - everything about Oky is for girls, by girls. UNICEF has a focus on adolescent girls empowerment and gender equality, with significant internal expertise and experience in engaging adolescent girls. It has significant strengths and core competencies which uniquely position it to lead further scale up and support new deployments of Oky:

• Diverse expertise across multiple sectors, specifically gender, WASH including MHM, sexual reproductive health, and child protection

• Established systems to ensure accountability and transparency, including governance models for working with government and civil society

• Existing offices and teams in all target countries with strong understanding of children’s rights and established networks including with relevant government ministries

In addition, UNICEF can draw on the lessons learned and approaches which have already demonstrated its capacity to successfully scale innovations including the following:

• The Learning Passport: an online, mobile, and offline tech platform providing high quality, flexible learning for out of school children. It is also deployed in schools to build a more digitally literate generation. Since 2020 Learning Passport has scaled to reach 2.4 million learners in 26 countries

• U-Report: UNICEF’s digital engagement platform for adolescents and young people, collecting opinions via polls and communicating key information via numerous messaging, social media and SMS channels. Since its launch in 2011 it has expanded to 90 countries and 23 million users

• Oxygen plants-in-a-box: the fastest product innovation in UNICEF's history, delivered to 27 countries in 2022 to increase their oxygen production capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

To date, Oky is already being implemented in 12 countries around the world, with local organizations who become Oky franchise partners*, driving the localization and implementation process together with girls. They receive Unicef Oky Core Team support, technical advice and quality assurance. Oky local franchise partners join Oky based on their interest and criteria, including they have ongoing programming with and for girls and women; deep-rooted presence in-country; alignment with Oky’s vision and principles; openness to working with others; and an appetite for digital technology for social impact. 

Localization takes a collaborative approach building ecosystem support from Government, communities, and civil society stakeholders engaging representatives from key government ministries (Education, Health, Youth, Women and Children), and CSOs/NGOs/UN agencies with expertise in SRH to vet and validate Oky content. This co-creation process harnesses the expertise and experience of communities and their leaders to ensure Oky implementation meets girls' SRH and digital needs, is culturally appropriate, and leverages existing programmes. 

This collaborative, localized approach to deployment has resulted in government agencies and religious organizations endorsing Oky and promoting it for use in schools, even in conservative settings such as Indonesia and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Philippines).

*Current Oky franchisees include PKBI (Indonesia), LVCT Health (Kenya), Tai (Tanzania), NFCC (Nepal), Plan (Philippines), Girls NGO (Ukraine), OpenLine (Kyrgyzstan), WASH NGO (Mongolia), SaCoDe (Burundi), LoveLife (South Africa), SPLASH (India), and Save the Children (Papua New Guinea).

Since inception and receiving seed investments (from Unicef VentureFund and TheCaseForHer) for Oky in 2018/19, which supported ideation, co-creation, prototype development and user testing, Oky was launched in May 2020 in two pilot markets Indonesia and Mongolia, and has since scaled across countries and regions.

We have been iterating and upgrading Oky based on user feedback multiple times over the past three years. Oky is specifically built to girls' (digital) realities in LMICs to tackle the gender digital divide for girls. It addresses their challenges regarding connectivity and access, digital literacy levels, relevance of digital platforms, online safety and privacy concerns, gatekeeper restrictions and gender norms that inhibit their access (both to digital adoption and use, and to menstruation and SRH education). As a result of HCD insights and user co-creation, Oky is gamified, disability inclusive, fully functions offline (incl. downloading via sharing APK files via Bluetooth),is light weight, works on low-end devices and old operating systems, has a multiple user login option for phone sharing, does not collect PII, and has highest data protection and privacy by design, and is entirely free, without ads.

Oky was designed by girls to ensure that all users, regardless of digital literacy, can easily navigate the app, using visuals, simple user journeys, tutorials, and content in local languages. Girls are not only able to increase their digital literacy and confidence by co-designing an app, but they also increase their digital skills while learning about their body and puberty when using Oky - practicing digital technology use incrementally and by exploration, familiarizing themselves with digital platforms and app navigation, and building up their skills. For many girls, Oky provides a welcome entry point for digital literacy building as they practice on a digital platform that is relevant for them, to then graduate to a wider and more complex offer of digital tools and services, especially related to their health. For girls with disabilities, the Oky team also developed a training toolkit that aims to increase their digital skills and their ability to find and use pre-installed assistive tech features in their devices, so they can use Oky but also other digital health services and content.

Oky was approved as a digital public in 2021 (and subsequently in 2022 and 2023), its code is available on GitHub. Oky's content is also open-source and has already been used by partners from around the world. For example, Population Services International (PSI) has included some Oky content in theirBig Sista chatbots in Nigeria. Or Girl Effect integrated some content in the Big Sis chatbot in South Africa and Tanzania. Oky content is also part of the information on the Laaha website, an initiative of Unicef's Child Protection/GBViE team, and of the Unicef site ‘Internet of good things’ (IoGT) in the Southern and Eastern Africa region. Selected Oky content was also included in Eastern and Southern Africa region (ESAR) school curricula via UNFPA support.

At the heart of the Oky scaling there are 3 key concepts: Open Source, Social franchising and using a single tenancy model.

Oky is an internal UNICEF start-up that uses an innovative business model for scaling. Through a social franchise model, UNICEF is the franchisor and contributing partner (with a small UNICEF Oky Core Team serving as technical advisors and for QA) for franchise partners who lead and own Oky in their respective country. Franchise partners sign a franchise license agreement (FLA) that was developed by UNICEF Legal department. The FLA lays out the roles and responsibilities, Oky principles, and other important stipulations. The franchise is for social impact, free of royalties and fees. This has allowed Oky to scale across multiple countries and contexts in a short period of time. 

Localized Oky versions now live in 12 countries: Burundi, India-West Bengal, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal,Philippines, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ukraine.

Each Oky version is localized to the respective context (in design, content, features, languages) and is now available in more than 23 local languages, vetted and approved by governments, experts and development partners, led by girls and the Oky franchise partner in-country. Each Oky deployment has demonstrated new and innovative approaches. For example, in the Philippines, Oky has been endorsed by various government agencies and the Ministry of Education (MoE) issued a memorandum for its implementation in all schools. Based on girls' requests, the Philippines team also amended the 'Help Center' function of Oky, to be more prominent in the app and make contact information to in-person health services searchable by name and location. In Kenya and Tanzania, Oky promotion is integrated with digital skills sessions. Also, huge strides for disability inclusion were made by Kenya, Tanzania and Philippines Oky teams. Kyrgyzstan developed new Oky features with girls including an in-app chatbot and a flower growing feature. Burundi supported the adaptation of Oky code to run on tablets for girls’ clubs. Ukraine expanded Oky content in response to the conflict, with FAQs on safety and managing periods in emergencies.

Accessibility and inclusion of users with disabilities is one of the core principles of Oky. The Oky app is WCAG compliant, also works on tablets in landscape mode (for those with mobility difficulties and those needing a larger screen) and has been extensively user tested with girls with disabilities. Oky’s content and design is inclusive (eg avatars with disabilities). Local Oky franchise partners are provided with guidance on how to include girls with disabilities (and their care-givers) at every step of the Oky localization and deployment journey, launch and promotion, supported through collaboration with Organizations of People with Disabilities (OPDs) in the respective countries. The Oky team has also developed the first-ever training toolkit for familiarizing users with disabilities with the pre-installed assistive tech features in their devices, so they can benefit from Oky but are also able to explore digital services and platforms beyond.

For Oky dissemination and promotion in a market, Unicef supports franchisees and partner networks with learnings how to reach the target audience of adolescent girls (10-19yrs) and their social circles via digital marketing and in-person events, especially the most marginalized girls, and how to partner with the private sector, to build alliances with service providers and organizations working in the Education, Health, WASH, Women’s Rights, and Youth Empowerment sectors; and collaborate with governments to integrate Oky in their programmes.

Girls are also actively engaged in the launch of Oky in their country. Once released, many Oky co-creators and users actively promote the app (including on social media) with peers, participate in online Oky challenges, and leverage various Oky feedback channels to suggest new content or new features to steer the built out of Oky. There is a direct feedback form integrated into the Oky app; and also an Oky email address exists for users to send suggestions, they can leave reviews on the Oky playstore, and unconnected users can provide feedback and ideas to local partners, teachers, health workers, etc who engage in Oky roll-out and community engagement. Oky M&E activities also apply methodologies that engage adolescent girls meaningfully as partners and expert-decision makers,contributing to the study design, implementation, analysis and translation of research findings where possible.

20+ more countries are interested in joining the Oky initiative. However, investment is needed to support the further scaling of Oky in 2024 and beyond.

Currently Oky has more than 750,000 online users worldwide (as well as innumerable offline users,which are harder to quantify) with the majority being adolescent girls. 

Oky technology is continuously iterated, based on requests and needs from girls themselves. Oky’s features include an individualized cycle tracker (with an AI prediction engine to support girls with irregular periods) and calendar, tips, and an ever evolving content encyclopedia. The open source code is available to partners, allowing partners to adopt features developed by other countries with ease using the Oky branding.

Oky also has some more unconventional features that are girl-centered and engaging. The latest version, launched April 2024, include improvements such as:

• Video hosting: Oky can now host 2 videos directly in the app that will not increase app size significantly, and provides YouTube links for online users to relevant MHH and SRH videoclips from trusted partners (such as AMAZE videos by AdvocatesForYouth)

• Tablet version of the Oky app is available. When downloading Oky, it will automatically adjust to the device of the user (mobile device or tablet)

• New analytics mechanism will include data of the number of users viewing Encyclopaedia categories and subcategories, as well as users accessing/interacting with different app features for better insights into Oky usage and usability.

• Improvements to app encryption to make data storage even more secure.

To reach the unconnected, marginalised girls living in poverty and/or rural and remote settings, the Oky team has developed and piloted an offline peer-to-peer approach in Indonesia. Peer-to-peer approach leverages young people’s natural tendency to seek information and advice from peers to build knowledge, using a peer-led approach to share SRH content from Oky, and build digital literacy using Oky as an entry point. The process and materials from Oky Indonesia have been documented and shared with all Oky partners, and is currently being adapted from Oky in Kenya and Tanzania.

Oky has published supporting toolkits with best practices, to support innovators, designers and implementers of digital products and services within the wider GenderTech ecosystem, to benefit girls and young women equally and help close the gender digital divide.

The Oky community regularly conducts Oky learning events for Oky franchise partners, to foster knowledge sharing and South-to-South collaboration between partners with topics including; Promotion and user acquisition, Government engagement and Effective monitoring & evaluation.

While we have achieved a lot over the past three years together with girls and our partners, there are many more plans and ideas to achieve our vision for Oky. The areas we list in the next section refer to some of these plans, but we have more plans articulated in our Oky North Star Strategy, which we are happy to share. 

Oky’s aspires to be a gender transformative digital commons to benefit as many users as possible and break the taboo of menstruation and reproductive health once and for all. The vision is for Oky to be democratically governed, led by girls and local actors, built out through peer and user co-production, leveraging girl-appropriate digital technologies (both frontier technologies and low tech) and leverage partnerships across industries to reach the last mile. 

To realize the potential of Oky and overcome existing challenges, we seek the support of SOLVE in several critical areas:

Financial Investment: The current funding landscape poses significant challenges to scaling Oky, particularly concerning core team expenses for technical support and QA for partners. Flexible funding from SOLVE, alongside support in exploring new funding models such as crowdfunding, sponsorships, innovative finance, impact investing, and public-private partnerships, will be crucial. Additionally, enhancing the capacity of local franchise partners in resource mobilization is essential for Oky's sustainability and expansion in both existing and new markets.

Marketing & Promotion: Our goal is to reach more girls in LMICs, especially those who are most marginalized. Effective strategies to engage this audience are needed. Our approach includes in-person activation events facilitated by Oky network partners in schools and girls' clubs (and other locations where girls gather), complemented by presentations and Q&A sessions with trusted doctors, nurses, and health professionals. We also see potential in leveraging partnerships with private sector companies and their marketing platforms for cost-effective promotion. Furthermore, the advent of AI provides opportunities to develop algorithms to analyze and optimize social media engagement, influencer discovery, user behaviors, and campaign-specific metrics to tailor content for specific segments. Support from SOLVE in these innovative outreach strategies would maximize our reach and impact at minimal costs.

Technology & Features: Feedback from users shows a strong desire for new features such as games, quizzes, storytelling, chat rooms, and conversational AI chatbots within the app. There is also interest in low-tech solutions like SMS-based services. We need SOLVE’s assistance to address technology challenges, ensure privacy and legal compliance, and potentially secure tech partnerships for in-kind contributions.

Business Model: To ensure the Oky Social Franchise Model is robust and replicable, it may require an external review or self-assessment, potentially leading to revisions based on the insights gained. SOLVE’s assistance in this review process would help position Oky as a best-practice example for a girl-centered digital health innovation.

Governance: We aim to transition Oky from a centrally governed product to a more distributed and democratic model of leadership and decision-making. A participatory, inclusive, and value-based governance model aligns with our vision and mission, promoting community and user-driven governance.

Ecosystem Building: Oky’s success depends on a vibrant ecosystem of diverse partners. We are keen to expand our network through connections with SOLVE peers and partners, fostering collaborative opportunities that enhance our impact.

By partnering with SOLVE, Oky can surmount these barriers and achieve its mission of empowering young girls in LMICs through accessible, innovative health solutions that facilitate access to SRH and GBV services, tailored to their needs and contexts.