Merck Foundation announces the winners of ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards 2019 to break Infertility Stigma

Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced the winners of ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards 2019.

The awards were initiated with the aim to recognize and appreciate African Journalists who have produced accurate, informative and compelling stories about infertility, infertile women or couples with that aim to raise awareness about infertility prevention and male infertility.

Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President Merck More Than a Mother emphasized “We are delighted to announce the winners of ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards 2019. We received a good response, in form of several entries from the journalists across Africa. Thus, the Merck More Than a Mother Committee decided to create three Groups of Awards so that we could equally encourage talented and passionate media representatives across the continent. Moreover, we decided to create and announce Special Awards to encourage young African emergent media talents”.

The three groups are:

1. French Speaking African Countries

2. Southern African Countries

3. East African Countries

“I congratulate all the winners and appreciate their valuable contribution in sensitizing the African communities about infertility stigma. I strongly believe that Media can play a significant role in sensitizing people about sensitive issues of infertility and stigma attached to it. It can also help raise awareness about male infertility and infertility prevention in Africa” added Dr. Rasha Kelej.

Here is the list of Award Winners:

French Speaking African Countries:

Name of the Journalist	Country	Media Category	Place of Work	Prize Money
Richard TAMONE	Guinea	Print	Le Standard	USD 500
Aimée NSHIMIRIMANA	Burundi	Radio	Iindépendent Journalist	USD 500
Makan Soumaoro	Guinea	Radio	-	USD 500
Jane Labous	Senegal	Film	Freelancer	USD 500
Fatou Fadiga	Guinea	Film	House Media RTG	USD 500

Special Award Winners:

Name of the Journalist	Country	Media Category	Place of Work	Prize Money
Schola Bigaranya	Burundi	Radio	RADIO TELEVISION NATIONALE DU BURUNDI	USD 200
DUSHIME Ornella	Burundi	Radio	Destiny FM Radio	USD 200
MAHEBURWA Gaspard	Burundi	Radio	Radio TV Buntu	USD 200
Divine Irakoze	Burundi	Radio		USD 200
Raphaël BIGIRIMANA	Burundi	Online	National Radio Television	USD 200
Espérance NDAYISENGA	Burundi	Online	Radio Télévision Nationale du Burundi	USD 200

Southern African Countries:

Name of the Journalist	Country	Media Category	Place of Work	Prize Money
Abel Dzobo	Zimbabwe	Multimedia	HELA TV	USD 500
Regina Kalinde	Zambia	Multimedia	Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation	USD 500
John Manzongo	Zimbabwe	Online	The Herald newspaper	USD 500
Memory Kutengule	Malawi	Online	Malawi News Agency	USD 500
Mugugunye Moses Chigwa	Zimbabwe	Print	The Standard	USD 500
Jessie Ngoma -Simengwa	Zambia	Print	Times of Zambia	USD 500
Tashie masawi	Zimbabwe	Radio	ZBC radio station Classic 263	USD 500
Charles Chindongo	Malawi	Radio	Malawi Broadcasting Corporation	USD 500

Special Award Winners:

Name of the Journalist	Country	Media Category	Place of Work	Prize Money
Patrick Musira	Zimbabwe	Print	Afro News	USD 200
Roselyne Sachiti	Zimbabwe	Print	The Herald	USD 200
Takudzwa Chihambakwe	Zimbabwe	Print	Zimpapers Group	USD 200
Rutendo Makuti	Zimbabwe	Radio	ZBC Radio	USD 200
Grace Nyenyezi Khombe	Malawi	Radio	Zodiak Broadcasting Station	USD 200

East African Countries:

Name of the Journalist	Country	Media Category	Place of Work	Prize Money
Kelvin Kamau Ngendo	Kenya	Print	Standard Media Group	USD 500
Gloria Aradi	Kenya	Print	The Standard Media Group	USD 500
Zahra Namuli Ssentongo	Uganda	Multimedia	NBS Television	USD 500
Namusoke Magezi	Uganda	Online	-	USD 500
VERONICA ROMWALD MREMA	Tanzania	Online	MTANZANIA Newspaper	USD 500
Elizabeth Kadzo Gunga	Kenya	Multimedia	Citizen TV, Royal Media Services	USD 500
Dorcas Wangira	Kenya	Multimedia	Citizen TV, Royal Media Services	USD 500

Merck Foundation also announced the Call for Applications for ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards 2020.

The entries have been called from three groups:

1. English Speaking African Countries
2. French Speaking African Countries
3. Portuguese Speaking African Countries

Last date of submission:

Entries can be submitted till 15^th June 2020.

How to apply?

Entries can be submitted via email to mystory@merckmorethanamother.com.

Sending multiple applications will increase the chances of winning the award.

For more details on Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards, please visit: http://bit.ly/2uOH4hg
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Website: Merck-Foundation.com

About ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ campaign:
“Merck 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 and effective fertility care. 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 More Than a Mother”, we have initiated a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility on 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 own 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 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 DENISE NKURUNZIZA, The First Lady of Burundi	H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana	H.E AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADO, The First Lady of Niger
H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central African Republic	H.E. CONDÉ DJENE, The First Lady of Guinea Conakry	H.E. AISHA BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria
H.E. HINDA DEBY ITNO, The First Lady of Chad	H.E. CLAR WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia	H.E FATIMA MAADA, The First Lady of Sierra Leone
H.E. ANTOINETTE SASSOU-NGUESSO, The First Lady of Congo Brazzaville	H.E. PROFESSOR GERTRUDE MUTHARIKA, The First Lady of Malawi	H.E. ESTHER LUNGU, The First Lady of Zambia
H.E. SYLVIA BONGO ONDIMBA, The First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo	H.E. KEÏTA AMINATA MAIGA, The First Lady of Mali	H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, The First Lady of Zimbabwe
H.E. SYLVIA BONGO ONDIMBA, The First Lady of The Gabon	H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique

Merck Foundation is making history in many African countries where they never had fertility specialists or specialized fertility clinics before ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ intervention, to train the first fertility specialists such as; in Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Niger, Chad, Guinea, Ethiopia and Uganda. 

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

• ‘Merck More than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards and Health Media Training
• ‘Merck More than a Mother’ Fashion Awards
• ‘Merck More than a Mother’ Film Awards
• Local songs with local artists to address the cultural perception of infertility and how to change it
• Children storybook, localized for each country

About Merck Foundation:
The Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), 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 (www.Merck-Foundation.com), Facebook (bit.ly/347DsTd), Twitter (bit.ly/2REHwaK), Instagram (bit.ly/2t3E0fX), YouTube (bit.ly/2E05GVg) and Flicker (bit.ly/2RJjWtH).

About Merck:
Merck (www.MerckGroup.com) is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Almost 52,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma.