Announcing the Winner of the 2024 TaroWorks Humanitarian Technology Grant: SaCoDé

We are excited to announce that the Association for the Promotion of Communities’ Health for Development (SaCoDé) is the recipient of the 2024 TaroWorks Humanitarian Technology Grant!

SaCoDé is a non-political and non-profit organization founded in 2011 in Burundi, that was created to promote good health practices and drive community development. Over the years, they have expanded their mission to address broader community challenges through empowerment, infrastructure development, and policy advocacy. With a mission to empower communities to live healthy lives and improve living conditions, SaCoDé envisions a world where communities are healthy, resilient, and prosperous.

“We are also excited and grateful to be chosen among all those who had applied and hope that TaroWorks will be very helpful to manage our field work, and of course increase the speed and accuracy of our data!” 
– Grâce Françoise Nibizi Founder & Executive Director

With support from Qualcomm Wireless Reach, TaroWorks awarded a USD 20,000 grant to subsidize the costs of implementing the TaroWorks Enterprise solution, a mobile inventory and distribution management app that facilitates real-time tracking of stock levels and product movements across suppliers, warehouses, and distribution agents using Android smartphones or tablets, even in offline settings. TaroWorks Enterprise will be used for SaCoDé’s signature programs, The Menstrual Hygiene Management Program.

SaCoDé’s Menstrual Hygiene Management Program

One of SaCoDé’s flagship initiatives is their Menstrual Hygiene Management program, centered around their innovative product, Agateka (dignity), a reusable sanitary pad. This program is dedicated to promoting health and proper menstrual hygiene management among young girls and women. By providing education and distributing reusable sanitary pads in schools and vulnerable groups such as those in hospitals and refugee camps, SaCoDé aims to improve access to sanitary products, reduce menstruation stigma, and ensure that girls can continue their education uninterrupted.

Currently, 27,146 girls in 356 schools across Burundi wear Agateka pads, and none of them miss school anymore due to a lack of hygienic protection while 87% report improvements of their grades since they started using Agateka pads. And, the program has been able to be funded  by the profits from the sale of Agateka pads to the general public. 

The Challenge

As an organization that produces and distributes a product, SaCoDé came to TaroWorks because they have encountered several operational challenges that many growing organizations like them face:

• Limited Visibility and Transparency: Managing complex operations without real-time oversight has hindered efficiency.
• Inefficient and Time-Consuming Data Entry Processes: Manual systems have created bottlenecks, slowing down productivity and accuracy.
• Security and Data Loss Risks: Reliance on paper-based systems and traditional methods increases the risk of data loss and breaches.
• Scalability Issues: As SaCoDé continues to expand, their current systems have become increasingly difficult to manage, especially with larger data volumes.
• Collaboration Challenges: Coordinating efforts with partners has become complex due to siloed data and lack of real-time information sharing.
• Difficulties in Reporting and Accountability: Demonstrating the impact of their work is challenging without a robust tracking system.

Helping SaCoDé Deliver Reusable Sanitary Pads to Women and Girls In Vulnerable Communities in Burundi

To overcome these challenges, SaCoDé will implement TaroWorks Enterprise, a mobile inventory management, and offline CRM solution that will be used for jobs ranging from inventory management and production to quality control and distribution—SaCoDé will benefit from a comprehensive, offline inventory management system that enables collaboration between field teams and the office. This holistic approach will provide better reporting capabilities, enhanced scalability, and improved collaboration with partners.

With TaroWorks’ powerful mobile inventory management and offline CRM tools, SaCoDé will be able to scale their impact, streamline operations, and continue empowering communities through their critical work. We are honored to support SaCoDé in their mission and look forward to the remarkable outcomes they will achieve.

Congratulations to SaCoDé on this well-deserved recognition!