Eighth-Grader Aryahi Das Joins Ranjeeta Priyadarshini to Launch Period Friendly New Jersey at the Global Summit on Paid Period Leave
Eighth-grader Aryahi Das and campaigner Ranjeeta Priyadarshini launched Period Friendly New Jersey at the Global Summit on Paid Period Leave in New York on October 19, 2026. The initiative promotes age-appropriate menstrual health education and open conversations to reduce stigma. Speakers, including Emmett Imani, Deputy Director of the UNESCO Center for Peace, discussed paid period leave, workplace dignity and protections against discrimination. Organisers called for further research, practical workplace policies and government engagement.
Orlando Local News 
Student from Livingston, New Jersey brings youth leadership to a call for early menstrual health education and a world without menstrual shame
NEW YORK, 19 October 2026: At the Global Summit on Paid Period Leave, Aryahi Das, an eighth-grade student at Heritage Middle School in Livingston, New Jersey, joined hands with Ranjeeta Priyadarshini, Founder and Global Campaigner of Paid Period Leave, to launch Period Friendly New Jersey, a community initiative for early, age-appropriate menstrual health education and open conversation.
The summit was held today at UNCC, United Nations Plaza, New York, under the banner of RISE Foundation (Ranjeeta Initiative for Social Empowerment Foundation). It brought together academics, journalists, legal professionals, filmmakers, social advocates and international leaders around the central theme “Advancing Paid Period Leave Through Storytelling and Policy Reform.”
A young voice steps forward
Period Friendly New Jersey was launched by Ranjeeta Priyadarshini in collaboration with Aryahi Das. For a student still in middle school to stand alongside an international campaigner, at a summit hosted at the United Nations Plaza, is a notable act of leadership on a subject that many adults still find hard to discuss openly.
Aryahi Das said: “A period-friendly world starts with understanding, grows through education, and becomes possible through collective action.”
Her participation underscored the importance of youth leadership and intergenerational collaboration in advancing menstrual health awareness.
What Period Friendly New Jersey aims to do
The initiative aims to promote early, age-appropriate menstrual health education, encourage open and respectful conversations, and help create communities where children can grow up without menstrual stigma or shame. It seeks to encourage awareness, understanding and collective responsibility among students, families, schools and communities.
The movement she has joined
Ranjeeta Priyadarshini's Paid Period Leave campaign began at a United Nations platform in Nairobi, Kenya, and has since moved through Odisha, Karnataka and Bihar in India to the United Nations in New York. The summit screened a documentary on the campaign, directed by Pradeep Nayak, in English, bringing that journey to a wider international audience.
Where the campaign asks governments and employers to consider at least one day of paid period leave for women employees when needed, Period Friendly New Jersey starts earlier, with children, classrooms and families. Together they reflect the summit's message that menstrual health is a matter of dignity, not a private inconvenience or a privilege.
A summit that spoke to dignity, evidence and policy
Speakers at the summit included Emmett Imani, Deputy Director of the UNESCO Center for Peace; Adam Lupel, Executive Director of the Coalition for the UN We Need; Anna Kaplan, Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York; Mynul Islam, Special Correspondent and Anchor; filmmakers Sanya Panda and Damilola Adeyeri; Farhan Aryan, Esq., Attorney and Counsellor at Law; and cinematographer and singer Arturo de las Fuentes. Their discussions covered dignity at work, evidence-based policy, safeguards against discrimination and the role of storytelling.
Six New York Film Academy alumni also announced an English-language feature film inspired by Ranjeeta Priyadarshini's journey and her campaign for Paid Period Leave.
What happens next
Speakers and organisers identified four priorities: concrete proposals such as model workplace policies and legislative recommendations; more research and workplace surveys; continued engagement with governments and national leaders on at least one day of paid period leave for women employees when needed; and safeguards so that women are assessed on their abilities, not on stereotypes about their health.
About Aryahi Das
Aryahi Das is an eighth-grade student at Heritage Middle School in Livingston, New Jersey, and the collaborator behind Period Friendly New Jersey alongside Ranjeeta Priyadarshini.
About Ranjeeta Priyadarshini and Paid Period Leave
Ranjeeta Priyadarshini is the Founder and Global Campaigner of Paid Period Leave and Brand Ambassador of RISE Foundation. She has organised five international conferences and written an international book on women workers and international law, launched at the House of Lords, UK Parliament. Several organisations have felicitated her for her contributions to social empowerment and women's rights.
About RISE Foundation
RISE stands for Ranjeeta Initiative for Social Empowerment Foundation. Its vision centres on education, empowerment and equality, with a focus on social development, women's empowerment, menstrual health awareness and inclusive communities.
