[1][3] The cartoon series and multimedia initiative produced with the support of UNICEF and its donors as part of a program to raise awareness against various social inequalities in South Asian countries and to educate children, parents, and community leaders.

At that time, Bangladesh agreed with the Norwegian Government to provide financial assistance for the production of animated cartoons in South Asia.

[7] In the first few years, Rachel Carnegie worked as a consultant with Neill McKee to coordinate and facilitate the creation of the Meena series, involving UNICEF officers in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

[14] Meena educates the children of South Asia on issues of gender, health, and social inequality through her stories in comic books, animated films, and radio series (affiliated with the BBC).

[1] Her adventures include attempting to gain an education, sharing meals with Raju on an equal level, learning about HIV, how to give birth to a baby properly, and volunteering.

The character of Meena was created by a team of people in UNICEF that was led by Neill McKee, head of the Communication Section in the early 1990s.

[1] He chose Rachel Carnegie as the main facilitator and brought in Ram Mohan, a famous Indian cartoonist, Dr. Mira Aghi of India as chief researcher, and Nuzhat Shahzadi as script co-writer and implementation coordinator for Bangladesh.

From the beginning, the Meena team consulted with UNICEF staff, NGOs, and government people and carried out hundreds of focus groups and individual interviews throughout the region to arrive at the characters, names, backgrounds, and stories.