Bangalore: Flipkart Foundation, the charitable arm of the Flipkart Group, has joined hands with Goonj to launch ‘Udaan: Empowered by Flipkart Foundation’, an initiative aimed at transforming menstrual wellbeing outcomes for women and adolescent girls across multiple States in India. The project focuses on breaking the silence and stigma around periods, increasing awareness, ensuring access to sustainable menstrual sanitation products, and enabling community-led action by underserved communities. Through a people-first approach, Udaan empowers women to speak up, lead local solutions, and sustain awareness at the grassroots level.
Udaan is being implemented through on-ground sessions across select locations in Assam, Karnataka, Odisha, and West Bengal, and virtual platforms reaching audiences pan-India. The campaign’s core on-ground component includes 225 ‘Chuppi Todo Baithaks’ (Break the Silence meetings), where adolescent girls and women engage in open dialogues to dispel long-standing taboos around menstruation. These sessions are supported by virtual workshops across schools and institutions. To expand its national reach, Goonj is launching a digital campaign across social channels.
The initiative will directly empower close to 18,700+ women and indirectly reach over 56,000 women. Further, more than five lakh individuals will be reached via digital engagement initiatives. Flipkart Foundation is addressing systemic menstrual challenges through a Four-A model – Access, Awareness, Affordability, and Action – by equipping women with menstrual wellbeing resources, knowledge, and platforms for expression.
A critical element under Udaan is the channelisation of Goonj’s ‘MY Pads’ – cloth sanitary pads made from upcycled urban pre- and post-consumer fabric – to over 9,350 women in remote communities. These efforts will not only deliver sustainable period solutions but also prevent textile surplus from reaching landfills, aligning with Flipkart Foundation’s environmental goals. Cloth collection drives in urban areas will further facilitate the production of these pads.
Commenting on the collaboration, Sarah Gideon, Vice President – Corporate Affairs, Flipkart, said: “At Flipkart Foundation, we believe that dignity, health, and opportunity should never be determined by geography or social norms. Period health continues to be one of the most underserved areas in community well-being, especially among women and girls with limited access to products and education. With the launch of Udaan, in partnership with Goonj, we are working to challenge the deep-rooted silence surrounding menstruation, while building practical solutions grounded in community engagement and sustainability. This is not just about access; it’s about giving women a voice, the power to decide for themselves, and the means to challenge the stigma around menstrual health across different geographies in India.”
Meenakshi Gupta, Co-founder, Goonj, said about the project: “Goonj has been working on the issue of dignified menstrual wellbeing of women for over two decades across India. We believe menstrual wellbeing is a human issue, not just a woman’s issue, as it’s a basic biological process. Designing a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of this issue with a holistic approach allows a woman to manage her menstruation with dignity every month. We hope more organisations get inspired by this project and seek out ideas that keep women – and their dignity and decisions – at the centre of their menstrual wellbeing. We look forward to working deeply and long-term on this issue with the Flipkart Foundation.”
Women in participating communities will also be trained as health ambassadors to continue education efforts beyond the project period. Additionally, Udaan will feature 18 exhibitions showcasing work on period hygiene to normalise conversations and promote community ownership of wellbeing and action stories.
With this initiative, the Flipkart Foundation and Goonj are paving the way for inclusive, community-led solutions to address menstrual wellbeing with dignity. Udaan marks a vital step toward normalising menstruation and strengthening dignity for women across India.