50 Winners from 16 African Countries were celebrated at Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards Ceremony; 6 new awards 2021 were announced by Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation) in partnership with the 20 African First Ladies; During the online video conference, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej welcomed the winners of the awards to the Merck Foundation Alumni.
Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, celebrated the winners of ‘Merck Foundation More Than A Mother’ Africa Media Recognition Awards 2020 during the Award Ceremony held via a Video Conference. The winners were applauded for their best media coverage about infertility, infertile women & couples, with the aim to raise awareness about infertility prevention and male infertility. The awards were announced by Merck Foundation in partnership with the African First Ladies, who are also the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother.
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother emphasized “I am proud to recognize and appreciate our winners, who became the voice of the voiceless and the storytellers of infertile women and break the stigma around them and also raised awareness about male infertility. I am extremely happy to meet and celebrate our winners, through our online Award Ceremony. As you know, I truly believe that Media plays a crucial role in educating and sensitizing our communities through their influential media work. Through these awards, we were able to inspire many African journalists to write and create awareness about infertility stigma in their communities. We would like to encourage our winners to become Merck Foundation Champions and work together towards further eliminating infertility stigma and empower girls through education in developing countries and underserved communities”.
“We also welcome the winners as Merck Foundation Alumni, to join us to create a culture shift as a part of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’ and ‘Educating Linda’ programs”, Senator, Dr. Kelej added.
Here is the list of Award Winners of ‘Merck Foundation More Than A Mother’ Africa Media Recognition Awards 2020:
Here are the winners from Southern African Countries in partnership with The First Lady of Malawi, H.E. MONICA CHAKWERA; The First Lady of Namibia, H.E. MONICA GEINGOS; and The First Lady of Zimbabwe, H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA:
SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
PRINT CATEGORY WINNERS:
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
THIRD Position:
SPECIAL AWARD FOR A NOVEL
ONLINE CATEGORY WINNERS:
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
THIRD Position:
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY WINNERS:
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
RADIO CATEGORY WINNERS:
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
THIRD Position:
Here are the winners from West African Countries in partnership with The First Lady of Liberia, H.E. CLAR MARIE WEAH; and The First Lady of Nigeria, H.E. Dr. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI:
WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES
PRINT CATEGORY WINNERS:
ONLINE CATEGORY WINNERS:
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
RADIO CATEGORY
Here are the winners from East African Countries:
EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES
ONLINE CATEGORY
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY
RADIO CATEGORY
Here are the winners from African French Speaking Countries in partnership with The First Lady of Burundi, H.E. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE; The First Lady of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI; The First Lady of Guinea Conakry, H.E. CONDÉ DJENE; and The Former First Lady of Niger, H.E. AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU:
AFRICAN FRENCH SPEAKING COUNTRIES
PRINT CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
ONLINE CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
RADIO CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
THIRD Position:
Here are the winners from Ghana in partnership with The First Lady of Ghana, H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO:
GHANA
PRINT CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
THIRD Position:
ONLINE CATEGORY
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY
FIRST Position:
SECOND Position:
RADIO CATEGORY
Here are the winners from Zambia in partnership with The First Lady of Zambia, H.E. ESTHER LUNGU:
ZAMBIA
PRINT CATEGORY
MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY
RADIO CATEGORY
Link of the Award Ceremony livestreamed on social media: https://bit.ly/2THP5AE
Merck Foundation additionally rewarded the winners by providing them with one-year access to an online educational training program called “MasterClass”. The MasterClass is an immersive online experience and self-paced learning course in English that can be accessed anywhere with the Internet.
To underscore the important role that media, art, fashion, music and film plays in raising awareness about sensitive issues like Infertility Prevention, and Empowering Girls and Women through Education, and continuing the best prevention practices during the second wave of coronavirus, Merck Foundation in partnership with 20 First Ladies of Africa announced the following 6 awards:
Submission deadline: 30th August 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/3vSlWRx) to view more details.
2. Merck Foundation Film Awards “More Than a Mother” 2021: All African Filmmakers and Students are invited to create and share a FILM or a DOCUDRAMA to deliver strong and influential messages to break Infertility stigma, and /or Empowering Girls and Women through Education and at all levels.
Submission deadline: 30th August 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/2TKoZgx) to view more details.
Submission deadline: 30th August 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/3wZc7B8) to view more details.
Submission deadline: 30th August 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/34JwxSD) to view more details.
Submission deadline: 30th September 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/3prXl3C) to view more details.
Submission deadline: 30th September 2021. Click here (https://bit.ly/3vSuvLY) to view more details.
Entries for all the awards to be submitted via email to submit@merck-foundation.com
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej also emphasized, “Through the awards under the “More Than a Mother” campaign, we would like to join hands with media, film, music and fashion fraternity to make a change and Break Infertility Stigma, a message that must reach every door, every community, every mind, and every heart. Another important message is to emphasize the importance of girl education in our communities. Moreover, given the unprecedented times and second wave of coronavirus, it is important to sensitize communities and raise awareness about following best practices. Raising awareness about coronavirus in our communities will also contribute to supporting health workers who are at the forefront of COVID-19 response - providing high-quality, respectful treatment, and care. Hence, we came up with awards for media persons and fashion designers, so as to encourage people to wear masks during the Coronavirus pandemic and protect themselves and others. The two Media Awards have also been launched for Latin American countries.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.
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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 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 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. SIKA KABORE, The First Lady of Burkina Faso | H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana | H.E. AISHA BUHARI, The First Lady of Nigeria |
| H.E. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of Burundi | H.E. CONDÉ DJENE, The First Lady of Guinea Conakry | H.E FATIMA MAADA BIO, The First Lady of Sierra Leone |
| H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central African Republic | H.E. CLAR WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia | H.E. ESTHER LUNGU, The First Lady of Zambia |
| H.E. ANTOINETTE SASSOU-NGUESSO, The First Lady of Congo Brazzaville | H.E. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi | H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, The First Lady of Zimbabwe |
| H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, THE First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo | H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique | |
| 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 and The Former First Lady of Niger, H.E AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU 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 with the aim to break the stigma of infertility and empowering 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
• 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, 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 Merck-Foundation.com to read more. To know more, reach out to our social media: Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com); Facebook (bit.ly/2MU6Fht), Twitter (bit.ly/3scVf8t), Instagram (bit.ly/3boJ0jr), YouTube (bit.ly/3sf4aWX) and Flicker (bit.ly/3snPHZ8).
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