Kaleab Getaneh Zewelde is the co-founder and CEO of Mela for Her, a social enterprise from Ethiopia committed to improving access to sustainable menstrual products and empowering women economically. Kaleab developed the idea for Mela for Her in collaboration with his wife. With over 20 years of experience in international development in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector, he brings profound expertise in addressing structural challenges and driving social change. Together with his team, he is working to create sustainable jobs for women, break taboos and help millions of girls and women in Ethiopia and beyond lead dignified lives during their periods.
‘Creating sustainable jobs with purpose: balancing profit and impact’
Kaleab Getaneh Zewelde is the co-founder and CEO of Mela for Her. The Ethiopian company for reusable menstrual products not only stands for sustainable goods with a social impact, it also offers attractive employment opportunities for women.
How does Mela for Her create sustainable jobs and better working conditions for women in Ethiopia?
We create jobs with purpose. More than 85 per cent of our team are women. In addition to producing reusable sanitary pads, they also work as sales agents, mainly in rural areas, where menstruation remains taboo and access to menstrual products is very limited. These women receive comprehensive training in sales and menstrual hygiene management, enabling them to earn an income by distributing Mela’s products, while educating other women in their communities on menstrual hygiene. As a social enterprise, we also place great emphasis on fair working conditions, including reasonable working hours and a supportive and empowering work environment.
How has GIZ supported you in this?
GIZ has been a key partner in our efforts to enhance production, improve access to our products and create sustainable jobs. First, we jointly developed comprehensive sewing and garment training programmes for young women and men entering our production team, many of whom had no prior experience. As a result of this training, a total of 47 new jobs have been created. Second, GIZ supported us in building a quality management system based on international standards, which helped us to professionalise and sustain our production processes. Third, we received technical support to scale up production in our facility from 500 to around 2,000 pads a day, and over 5,000 pads daily through outsourced factories. And fourth, GIZ enabled us to train and deploy 179 women as sales agents. This has significantly helped us to improve access to our products for women and girls in rural areas, while generating local income.
What are the next steps for Mela for Her – including in terms of business development?
In Ethiopia, an estimated 25 million women and girls need access to menstrual products. Our goal is to reach at least one million of them over the next three years – not just with products, but also with menstrual hygiene education. To achieve this, we plan to further expand our production capacity, introduce to the market new product lines such as menstrual underwear and integrate more women into our supply chain. We also aim to export 20 to 25 per cent of our products to neighbouring countries facing similar challenges. This is not only key for our financial sustainability, but also a way to scale our impact beyond Ethiopia. After all, mela is an Amharic word which means ‘solution’ – and that’s exactly what we strive to be: a solution for every woman and girl.
The Cooperation with GIZ
GIZ supported Mela for Her as part of the Invest for Jobs initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The partnership focused on training young women for careers in production and sales, in addition to establishing a sustainable business model. Although the cooperation ended in 2024, the company continues to grow successfully and maintains close contact with GIZ.