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What has the response to the Her Promise initiative been like so far? Are there any inspirational stories that you can share with us?

“I think the stories are great because we, of course, keep track of what is happening. We have an ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) report, and actually, I would strongly recommend you read it. It’s available in the public domain – then you can see what the impact is, what we are collectively doing.

I don’t have the exact number, but in the millions – I think 40-50 million unintended pregnancies have already been avoided by providing this proper information and proper services. That is the big impact of this initiative that we are very proud of, and you can be proud of as well because you are a part of it.”

What inspired you to start the program?

“We actually wanted to do something more than just sell products for women’s health. We really wanted to also be responsible and socially active, and we realized that as a company, we can offer a lot in terms of information and knowledge in the realm of sexual health and also reproductive health.

“As a company, we wanted to show in action what our vision is – to create a better and healthier every day for every woman. Because when you empower people, especially women, in their own health and you give them access and information, they then become healthier and thrive. That has a very strong impact on their family and actually on their community and then on society at large.”

Can you tell me more about some of the key activities under this program?

“So basically, you can say it is a grant program. We give grants to organizations and partners that actually work in the space of sexual and reproductive health awareness, education, and training, to help women get better information, better services, and better outcomes.

We actually ask partners that are interested to take advantage of the grant to submit a proposal. That proposal is vetted and is taken into account by the global team.

If they think it really fits with our direction and our vision then that grant is given. Then actually, it doesn’t stop there. We proactively work together in a way that we keep in touch so that we can see the program for which we give the grant actually delivers on what we set out to do together.”

Can you tell me a little bit more about why you decided to work with Kenan on the “Smart Family Life Planning in Action” initiative?

“It was very clear that this is also Kenan’s vision. Reaching out to communities and providing them with education, training, awareness and 21^st-century skills fits very much with our vision of providing those kinds of activities.
That’s why it clicked. It was not like we were submitting this and having a look at this. No, this was by design.
It’s something that fits at the heart of all we are doing. The Kenan request was picked out as one that fitted very precisely in the objective of ‘Her Promise. Her Future.’.”

So far under this initiative, what have been some of the challenges that have been identified when actually implementing these programs and activities?

“I’m not sure whether there are really challenges. It’s not just about receiving a grant and then just seeing whatever you do. No, it is a well-designed program, and to execute on that, I think, is always the challenge. But I think that Kenan Foundation is well on its way to doing that, and now one or two years later, we see what it is really leading up to.

So I think you can say that you have been able to execute very well what we set out to do in the beginning. But you always have tremendous hurdles and setbacks. Of course, you have to work with the ecosystem of government, health care system and other partners and certainly  new opinions, new directions, new priorities come forward, , but I think you’ve navigated that really, really well, but those are some of the challenges I see.”

Moving forward, what work do you think still needs to be done in order to ensure that future generations
no longer need to struggle with inadequate access or the insufficiencies we are trying to solve now?

“To me it sounds like the extra mile, right? You know how you do a lot of things, but then you come to a point where there’s still a bit to go and that extra mile is probably the most difficult one. We still have to continue the effort so that there are actually no more cases of unintended pregnancy, because it has such an impact on society, the community, and families. We have to fight hard to make it happen.

Therefore, for me, the answer would be to continue with this, but to really ensure that we don’t stop before that last mile – that we continue to reach out to the people who need this intervention the most.. Because the problem is definitely still there – there is still a lot of lack of awareness, lack of understanding, and lack of access to proper information to make the right decisions about sexual health. That’s how I see it.”

Any other comments you would like to add?

 “I really encourage all the people to acknowledge these healthcare workers, extended healthcare workers,
and volunteer workers in the villages and communities that actually do the work that is needed most. So, thank you.

Aphisara Srithararam, a village health volunteer (VHV) for the Ban Chang District in Rayong Province, also shared her experience with the initiative:

“My name is Aphisara Srithararam. I’m a village health volunteer (VHV) for the Ban Chang District, and I’m also the head VHV of Community 26.  I learned so much from the first training day. It was a broad overview and very helpful. They taught us about speaking techniques, like how to use facial expressions, eye contact, and tone of voice. It emphasized listening more than speaking, which I’ve found very useful in my actual job, and getting the guidebook to read.  This program inspired me a lot. I learned and shared it with the community. For example, learning about breast cancer self-exams allowed me to teach other women in my community during home visits. I demonstrated how to check for any abnormalities, like looking in the mirror and feeling for lumps.

I’ve been able to share a lot of this information with my community, helping people understand health issues and nutrition, and providing encouragement. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Kenan Foundation Asia for providing this training free of charge. The team was so enthusiastic and dedicated. Teaching older people can be challenging sometimes because they may not always listen, but when games are incorporated, they really enjoyed it. I feel like I’ve gained a lot of new knowledge.” 

Kenan remains committed to continuing this journey with Organon, empowering women and girls to have full control of their reproductive health, and promoting a better future for underserved communities.