Merck Foundation CEO Meets the First Lady of Nigeria to Discuss Their Partnership Programs

Merck Foundation Fashion Awards More Than a Mother 2022 All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to raise awareness about any of the following social issues such as Breaking Infertility Stigma, Support Girls Education, End Child Marriage, End FGM, Stopping GBV and Women Empowerment at all levels.Submission deadline 30th July 2022.

Business Wire India Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany discussed with H.E. Dr. Mrs. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria and Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’ their partnership programs during her visit to Merck Foundation office.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the “More Than a Mother” campaign expressed, “I am honored to receive my dear sister, H.E. Dr. Mrs. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria and Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’, at our office to discuss our long-term partnership and ongoing programs to build healthcare capacity, support girl education, and empower infertile women in Nigeria.

We have been working very closely with her since 2015 and together we have provided scholarships to more than 30 scholarships to young Nigerian doctors in several critical and underserved specialties including Fertility & Embryology, Diabetes, Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, Sexual & Reproductive Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, and Clinical Microbiology & infectious diseases.” H.E. Dr. Mrs. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria and Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’ said, “It is wonderful to meet our partner Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation. I am proud of our partnership with Merck Foundation to empower infertile women through access to information, education, health, and change of mindset. We also work towards empowering our girls in education. I am particularly happy to celebrate the Nigerian journalists as the winners of Merck Foundation Media Awards and to launch the new editions of best song, best fashion designers, and best film award to sensitize our communities and to create a platform to break the silence.” Please click on the link to view the pictures of the meeting: https://youtu.be/rgAhPD5Ao10 Merck Foundation announced the Call for applications of their important awards for Nigerian Media, Fashion Designers, Musical artists, and Filmmakers.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej emphasized, “After the huge success of previous editions, I am very happy to launch the 2022 edition of Merck Foundation awards, together with Nigeria First Lady. Through these awards, we would like to encourage the media, fashion, film making, and music fraternity to raise awareness on the important topics of breaking the stigma around infertility, underscoring the importance of girls’ education and women empowerment at all levels, Stopping GBV, and Ending Child Marriage.” The awards winners of Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2021 are: Online Category • Bukola Afeni, Newsday Online, Third Position Print Media Category • Ojoma Akor, Daily Trust Newspaper Media Limited, First Position The awards winners of Merck Foundation “Mask Up with Care” Africa Media Recognition Awards 2021 are: Online Category • Abiodun Azi, News Agency of Nigeria, Second Position The awards winners of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” Africa Media Recognition Awards 2020 are: Online Category • Martins Ifijeh, ThisDay Newspapers, First Position • Chinedu Asadu, Cable Newspaper Limited, Second Position Print Media Category • Chioma Obinna, Vanguard Media Limited, First Position RADIO CATEGORY • Abubakar Sulaiman, Sawaba FM 104.9 Hadejia, First Position The awards winners of “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards 2020 awards are: Online Category • Ishioma Emi Mary – Ventures Africa, First Position • Ebere Agozie – GFH News, First Position • Odimegwu Onwumere – The Nigerian Voice, Second Position Print Media Category • Ojoma Akor – Daily Trust, First Position Multimedia Category • Aneta Felix – TV360 Nigeria, First Position RADIO CATEGORY • Ekene Odigwe - Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Coalcity FM), First Position Details of the Awards: 1. Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022: Media representatives are invited to showcase their work to raise awareness about any of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Support Girls’ Education, End Child Marriage, End FGM, Stopping GBV and Women Empowerment at all levels.

Submission deadline: 30th July 2022. Click here to view more details.

2. Merck Foundation Film Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022 All African Filmmakers, Students of Film Making Training Institutions or Young Talents of Africa are invited to create and share a long or short FILMS, either drama, documentary, or docudrama to deliver strong and influential messages to address any of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Support Girls’ Education, End Child Marriage, End FGM, Stopping GBV and Women Empowerment at all levels.

Submission deadline: 30th July 2022. Click here to view more details.

3. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022: All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to raise awareness about any of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Support Girls’ Education, End Child Marriage, End FGM, Stopping GBV and Women Empowerment at all levels.

Submission deadline: 30th July 2022. Click here to view more details.

4. Merck Foundation Song Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG to address any of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Support Girls’ Education, End Child Marriage, End FGM, Stopping GBV and Women Empowerment at all levels.

Submission deadline: 30th July 2022. Click here to view more details.

Moreover, Merck Foundation in partnership with The First Lady of Nigeria has also launched three children's storybooks titled: “David’s story” to emphasize the strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and resulted in domestic violence in the future, “Educating Atikat” to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education and “Make the Right Choice Story” raise awareness about coronavirus prevention amongst children and youth as it provides facts about the pandemic and how to stay safe and healthy during the outbreak. About ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’ campaign “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile women through access to information, education, and change of mind-sets. This powerful campaign supports governments in defining policies to enhance access to regulated, safe, effective, and equitable fertility care solutions. It defines interventions to break the stigma around infertile women and raises awareness about infertility prevention, management, and male infertility. In partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Information, Education & Gender, academia, policymakers, International fertility societies, media, and art, the initiative also provides training for fertility specialists and embryologists to build and advance fertility care capacity in Africa and developing countries.

With “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother”, we have initiated a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility at all levels: By improving awareness, training local experts in the fields of fertility care and media, building advocacy in cooperation with African First Ladies and women leaders and by supporting childless women in starting their small businesses. It’s all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to live a fulfilling life, with or without a child. The Ambassadors of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” are: H.E. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Botswana H.E. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of The Gambia H.E. MONICA GEINGOS, The First Lady of Namibia H.E. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of Burundi H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana H.E. AISHA BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central African Republic H.E. CLAR WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia H.E FATIMA MAADA BIO, The First Lady of Sierra Leone H.E. ANTOINETTE SASSOU-NGUESSO, The First Lady of Congo Brazzaville H.E. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi H.E. MUTINTA HICHILEMA, The First Lady of Zambia H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, THE First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, The First Lady of Zimbabwe The Former First Lady of Burundi, H.E DENISE NKURUNZIZA, The Former First Lady of Chad, H.E. HINDA DÉBY ITNO, The Former First Lady of Malawi, H.E. PROFESSOR GERTRUDE MUTHARIKA, The Former First Lady of Niger, H.E AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU and The Former First Lady of Zambia, H.E. ESTHER LUNGU, The Former First Lady of Guinea Conakry, H.E. CONDÉ DJENE have worked successfully with Merck Foundation as Merck Foundation More Than a Mother Ambassadors to break the stigma of infertility and empower infertile women in their countries.

Merck Foundation launched new innovative initiatives to sensitize local communities about infertility prevention, male infertility to break the stigma of infertility and empower infertile women as part of Merck Foundation More than a Mother COMMUNITY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN, such as.

‘• Merck Foundation More than a Mother’ Africa Media Recognition Awards and Health Media Training • ‘Merck Foundation More than a Mother’ Fashion Awards • ‘Merck Foundation More than a Mother’ Film Awards ‘• Merck Foundation More than a Mother’ Song Awards • Local songs with local artists to address the cultural perception of infertility and how to change it • Children storybook, localized for each country Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard Facebook: Merck Foundation Twitter: @Merckfoundation YouTube: MerckFoundation Instagram: Merck Foundation Flickr: Merck Foundation Website: www.merck-foundation.com About Merck Foundation The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity, and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website. Please visit www.merck-foundation.com to read more. To know more, reach out to our social media: Merck Foundation; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Flickr. To View, the Image, Click on the Link Below: Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation during her meeting with H.E. Dr. Mrs. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria PWR PWR

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