Dr. Rasha Kelej meets First Lady of Central African Republic at 12th Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary to discuss 2026 strategy for joint programs

BusinessWire India
Bangui [Central African Republic]/ Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 1: Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, recently conducted the 12th Edition of their annual conference, "Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary", in partnership with the Government of The Gambia. The conference was co-chaired by H.E. Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of Gambia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother and Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of More Than a Mother. The First Lady of Central Africa, H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, along with The First Ladies of Burundi, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tome and Principe and Senegal joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers.
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.) expressed that "I am very happy to meet my dear sister, H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central Africa and Ambassador of Merck Foundation "More Than a Mother" to the 12th Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025. Our long-term partnership began in 2015, and since then, we have achieved great milestones together. We have provided scholarships for young doctors from CAR in Oncology and Diabetes."
H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central Africa & Ambassador of Merck Foundation "More Than a Mother" shared, "I greatly value our partnership with Merck Foundation that is since 2015, to support us to advance and build the healthcare capacity in our country by providing scholarships to our local doctors in various medical specialties. Through my Ambassadorship, we have worked to break the stigma around infertility, which causes many women to face discrimination and social exclusion. We have also raised awareness about male infertility.
Also, as a part of Merck Foundation's Education Linda program, we are providing annual scholarships to 40 bright yet under-privileged schoolgirls, to enable them to complete their education, and reach their full potential."
Watch the Speech of The First Lady of Central Africa & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother during the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 here: https://youtu.be/XYydExzfZ0Y
Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Dr. Rasha Kelej receiving H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central Africa & Ambassador of Merck Foundation "More Than a Mother": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eGFyg48fo
On Day 1 of the conference, the Plenary Session of the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 took place, featuring keynote speeches of First Ladies of Africa. Moreover, a high-level ministerial panel discussion was also held with African Ministers to discuss the Merck Foundation African Research Summit MARS strategy to build scientific research capacity and empower women in STEM with special focus on scientific research.
On Day 2 of the conference, Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative-MFFLI committee meeting was conducted between The First Ladies of Africa and Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO, where the African First Ladies shared the impact report of Merck Foundation programs in their respective countries, and future strategy was discussed.
Watch the video of MFFLI committee meeting: https://youtu.be/sc2XFyU3s10
Merck Foundation, in partnership with The First Lady of Central Africa, also announced the Call for applications for their 8 important awards for Media Representatives, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields. The aim of awards is to encourage young talents and youth in Central Africa to create and convey messages in their art and daily work to create awareness about sensitive issues like Break Infertility Stigma, Support Girl Education, Stop Gender Based Violence, End Child Marriage, End FGM, and Women Empowerment at all levels and raise awareness about early detection & prevention of Diabetes & Hypertension.
Moreover, Merck Foundation together with the office of The First Lady of Central Africa, has also conducted 4 editions of their Online Health Media Training to encourage media to be the voice of the voiceless and raise awareness.
Merck Foundation and The First Lady of Central Africa have released together seven storybooks to address the social and health issues among children from a young age, nurturing a culture of awareness and empathy. Moreover, these storybooks have been adapted into very interesting animation films, to raise awareness among both the youth and adults.
The 12th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary was streamed live on the social media handles of Merck Foundation and Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.
@Merck Foundation: Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
@Rasha Kelej: Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Link to the YouTube live stream of Inaugural Session of Merck Foundation First Ladies High Level Panel: https://www.youtube.com/live/h2_pOgZW9OY?si=u9sRUYz8H5tRC9ca
Summarizing Merck Foundation's initiatives and impact:
Merck Foundation is transforming the Patient care landscape and making history together with their partners in Africa, Asia, and beyond, through:
* 2500+ Scholarships provided by Merck Foundation for healthcare providers from 52 Countries in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties.
Merck Foundation is also creating a culture shift and breaking the silence about a wide range of social and health issues in Africa and underserved communities through:
* 3700+ Media Representatives from more than 35 countries trained by Merck Foundation to better raise awareness about different social and health issues.
* 8 Different Awards launched annually for best Media coverage, Song, Films, and Fashion.
* Around 30 songs to address health and social issues, by local singers across Africa in English, French, Portuguese, and local languages.
* 9 Children's Storybooks in four languages - English, French, Portuguese, and Swahili.
* 6 Awareness Animation Films in five languages - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili to raise awareness about breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education and prevention and early detection of Diabetes, Hypertension & Cancer.
* Pan African TV Program "Our Africa by Merck Foundation" addressing Social and Health Issues in Africa through "Fashion and ART with Purpose" Community.
* 1200+ Scholarships provided annually to high performing but under-privileged African schoolgirls from 18 countries, to help them to complete their studies and empower them to reach their full potential.
* 15 Social Media Channels with more than 8.5 Million Followers.
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