New York, NY, July 14, 2025 - The International Rescue Committee (IRC), in collaboration with Wazoku and SeaFreight Labs, has announced the winners of its latest open innovation challenge to improve access to contraceptive and hygiene products for refugees and displaced people on forced migration journeys. The winning solutions offer a tech-focused, scalable route to design empowering, self-service vending machines with contraceptives and hygiene products.
Across the world, forcibly displaced persons and refugees lack reliable access to contraceptive products, leading to a higher rate of unintended pregnancies and increased health risks for women on the move.
To address this, the IRC launched the Autonomous Contraception Dispensing Stations challenge to Wazoku’s Innocentive Solver community of problem solvers, startups, and researchers, seeking ideas and designs for discreet, autonomous contraception dispensing stations. Solvers developed solutions in three key categories:
- Technological support, including medical screening and stock tracking;
- Practical, mechanical operation, particularly around power and temperature management;
- Behavioral guidance around machine locations and discretion.
The challenge received 56 submissions from across 26 countries, which were then evaluated by experts from the IRC, leading pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Pfizer, maternal health solution startup Maternova, and Spanish vending machine specialist OD Vending.
The winning solutions are:
- Aniruddha Joshi, Singapore ($2,500)
- Aadhithya Aadhithya, India ($2,500)
- Márcio Henrique de Campos Fróis, Brazil ($5,000)
- Samin Bayat, Netherlands ($5,000)
“Countries with humanitarian emergencies are home to approximately 13% of the global population, but account for 58% of global maternal deaths and 25% of women with unmet contraceptive needs,” said Nathaly Spilotros, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Lead for Research & Innovation at the IRC. “These innovations have the potential to turn the tide of this global issue and help displaced people take control of their sexual and reproductive health.”
Henry Crabtree, Wazoku’s Senior Manager, Community, said: “The winning solutions show the immense value of the partnership between Wazoku and the IRC, bringing ingenuity and innovation to solve an urgent and long overlooked problem facing refugees in the world today.”
To learn more about the IRC’s open innovation initiatives and how to get involved, visit: https://www.innocentive.com/showcases/international-rescue-committee