Merck Foundation bags more awards
ACCRA — Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, has been recognised as the 2022 Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) of the Year, the Most Influential NGO Shaping Africa’s Future by Avance Media, a leading rating and voting firm.
Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and One of 100 Most Influential Africans 2019, 2020 and 2021 expressed: “I am delighted and proud to share that Merck Foundation has been voted through Avance Media this year out of 10 other very important NGOs whose collective efforts contribute to the development of Africa through many sectors such as healthcare, education, climate change, economic empowerment and more.”
“To be named as the NGO of the Year and to be acknowledged as the most influential NGO in Africa whose collective efforts greatly contribute to shaping Africa’s future through key sectors such as health, education and economic empowerment is encouraging me and my team to continue our efforts to transform patient care landscape, create a culture shift, support girl education, empower women and break infertility stigma in Africa and beyond.
“We will continue to make history and be part of Africa’s legacy. Thank you each and every one of you for believing in Merck Foundation and for voting for us.”
Merck Foundation works closely with partners that are African first ladies, Health, Education, Information and Communication ministers, gender, academia, research institutions, media as well as art in building healthcare capacity and addressing health, social and economic challenges in developing countries and under-served communities.
“We are proud that more than 1 300 doctors from 45 countries have benefited from our scholarships of one-year, two-year, and three-year diplomas and master’s degrees in more than 26 critical and underserved specialties like fertility, oncology, diabetes, hypertension, preventive cardiovascular, respiratory, critical care, acute medicine and many more,” Kelej said.
“Many of these doctors after graduation are the first in their countries, and this is a history in the making that makes Merck Foundation an important part of Africa’s legacy.”
Merck Foundation’s iconic More Than a Mother campaign is a strong movement that aims to empower women living with Infertility through access to information, education, change of mind-set, and economic empowerment.
It supports countries in defining policies to enhance access to regulated, safe, effective and equitable fertility and reproductive care solutions. It defines interventions to break the stigma around infertile women and raises awareness about infertility prevention, management and male infertility.
“I would like to emphasise that to transform access to better women’s health, we have provided more than 370 scholarships to doctors from 37 countries, with the aim to advance women's health by building reproductive and sexual care and fertility care capacity in Africa and beyond,” Kelej said.
“Moreover, we also support childless women by helping them start their own small businesses. It’s all about giving every woman the respect and support she deserves to lead a fulfilling life, with or without a child.”
Merck Foundation strongly believes that education is one of the most critical areas of women's empowerment.
It has been seen that many girls drop out of school due to lack of necessities such as fees and uniforms.
Merck Foundation through their Educating Linda program has been contributing to the future of 100’s of girls in partnership with the African first ladies as part of the Merck Foundation More Than a Mother campaign, from many African countries, including Zimbabwe.