UNITED NATIONS, New York – At a shelter for displaced people in Beirut, a woman holding her baby consults a doctor through a tablet screen. In a village in Nagaland in India, a nurse uses a handheld device the size of a pen to screen a woman for cervical cancer in under a minute. Each creation was made possible by a woman-led innovation – and by UNFPA's Equalizer Challenge.
The Challenge was launched in 2025 in collaboration with IE University, MIT Solve and Women of Wearables, and supported by the Governments of Germany and Luxembourg. Six women-led solutions were selected from 350 applications across 72 countries to receive funding, mentorship, coaching and strategic connections.
The results are impressive: From June to December 2025, over 62,000 women were screened or supported for sexual and reproductive health needs, 1.8 million were reached through digital platforms, and each winner mobilized approximately three times their grant in follow-on funding.
But behind every number is a woman. And behind every woman is a story.
From pilot to 60,000 women – and counting
In Kenya, Maisha Mothers was launched by Thalia Psychotherapy to integrate mental health, family planning and financial wellness into routine maternal care. “This is the first time anyone has asked me how I am feeling, not just about my baby,” said Minadia, an adolescent mother. With Equalizer Challenge support, Maisha Mothers has assessed more than 23,000 women and expanded to over 4,000 facilities.
In Kazakhstan, Take Care Mom offers pregnant women health tracking, early risk detection, and expert, round-the-clock support. “Before we had this screening in place, postpartum depression often went unnoticed. Now we are catching cases early,” said a health worker at a UNFPA partner clinic. With Equalizer Challenge support, the platform reached over 10,000 users in Kazakhstan between June and December 2025, expanded to Uzbekistan, and CEO Zulfiya Urunova and her team are advancing agreements with five public clinics.
In Lebanon, OMGYNO offers anonymous at-home testing – for STIs, vaginal infections, urinary tract infections and cervical cancer screenings – as well as telehealth care for women across the Middle East and North Africa. During the 2024 war with Israel, the initiative deployed services directly into shelters for displaced people.
“I can do this test anywhere, it's so convenient,” said one user. Since winning the Equalizer Challenge, OMGYNO has achieved European regulatory certification for its medical devices, was selected as an Echoing Green Fellow – awarded for high-impact social initiatives – and secured a key partnership with MARSA, a local Beirut-based organization that provides sexual and reproductive health services to marginalized communities.
Women’s health on the front line
In India, Periwinkle Technologies' Smart Scope® CX initiative screens for early-stage cervical cancer in under 60 seconds, even without electricity or an internet connection. Now expanding beyond India, the initiative has since won the MIT Solve Global Health Challenge and received clearance from the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the national regulatory body responsible for approving medical devices for use in Ghana — a key milestone for expanding access across West Africa.
And in Cameroon, the Gynaecological Innovative Care and Medical Education Device (GICMED) has developed a ‘smart speculum’ – a handheld device that enables health workers to detect early signs of cervical cancer and other conditions through telemedicine, without requiring a specialist on-site. So far, it has been used to screen over 2,500 women.
In Mexico, SinReglas is making menopause a workplace, policy and public health issue. Their platform has reached 20,900 women and convened Latin America's first menopause-in-the-workplace summit. “The Equalizer Challenge moved menopause from a private concern to a topic of national dialogue,” said Gabriela Rojas, founder and CEO of SinReglas.
Women-led innovations in low- and middle-income countries remain among the most underfunded in the world, leaving many proven solutions stuck at the pilot stage for lack of financing, visibility and access to decision-makers. Through the Equalizer Challenge, UNFPA connects innovators with governments, health systems, investors and global partners, providing the credibility and support needed to move from idea to implementation.
Learn more about the Equalizer Challenge winners: https://www.unfpa.org/press/announcing-winners-equalizer-challenge-2025
*The mention of specific products, services, or organizations among the winners does not imply endorsement or recommendation by UNFPA. Selection is based solely on the evaluation criteria of the initiative.
