ছবি: received 1,000 euros as the award
Bangladeshi youth’s innovative project ‘Nirbhaya’ won second place at the Future Port Youth Awards 2025 held in the Czech Republic. On 13 November, in an event in Prague, Marjana Maria and Shahidul Islam, members of the Nirbhaya team, received 1,000 euros as the award. This year, over 220 entries were submitted from different countries. Greece took first place, Bangladesh second, and the United States third.
The team members are students of various universities in Bangladesh: Marjana Maria from the Department of Sociology, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Shahidul Islam from the first year BBA program at Northern University, and Tayeb Mridha, a textile engineering student at BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, who could not travel to Prague.
The Nirbhaya project began with the aim of addressing the concerns of tea workers in Sreemangal regarding wages. The team conducted sessions to raise awareness about menstrual health, teaching women how to use sanitary pads correctly, the frequency of changing them, and the health risks of prolonged use.
In addition to awareness, Nirbhaya is working on creating income-generating opportunities for tea worker women by training them to produce reusable sanitary pads, which can then be sold within their communities.
The project has also developed a bilingual app (currently in testing), which helps women track their menstrual health using smartphones. Through the app, they can receive AI-generated reports on the regularity and health of their cycle and access free medical consultations. The app also provides the option to purchase low-cost reusable pads (20–30 BDT) that can last up to six months.
The team believes that this international recognition will inspire young innovators in Bangladesh to take on more initiatives.
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