Merck Foundation CEO and African First Ladies announce their “More Than a Mother” Song, Film, Fashion and Media Awards 2022 to raise awareness about social issues

Merck Foundation (www.MerckFoundation.org) addresses a wide range of social and health issues through their four awards such as; Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and Stopping GBV at all levels in Africa; Call for Applications announced for the following four awards: Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022; Merck Foundation Film Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022; Merck Foundation Song Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022; Merck Foundation Fashion Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announces Call for Applications for Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” four Awards 2022 edition in partnership with African First Ladies, who are also the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” movement. The Four awards have been announced for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students and new potential talents in these fields.

The theme of the awards is to raise awareness about any of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of “More Than a Mother” movement emphasized, “After the huge success of previous editions and celebrating the winners of 2021 of Merck Foundation “More than Mother” Awards, I am excited to announce our four new awards in partnership with African First Ladies and Ambassadors of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother. I strongly believe that media and art can play a significant role in raising awareness about sensitive topics. One of the great challenges today is that we often feel untouched by the problems of others, even when we can easily do something to help. Giving people access to data most often leaves them feeling overwhelmed and disconnected, not empowered and poised for action. This is where art and media can make a difference”.

The four awards being announced are:

1. Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022

2. Merck Foundation Film Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022

3. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022

4. Merck Foundation Song Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej further added, “I am extremely proud of our winners from our previous editions. All the winners are now members of our Merck Foundation Alumni and are working closely with us to support and empower women & girls at all levels. I invite the African Community of Media, Fashion, Film making, and Musicians, students and potential talents in these fields to apply to our awards, in order to create a culture shift and break the silence about one or more of the following topics: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels. I am looking forward to receiving their creative work, this year too”.

Details of the Awards:

1. Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022: Media representatives and media students are invited to showcase their work to raise awareness about one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

Who can apply:

Journalists from Print, Radio, Online, and Multimedia platforms from the following groups:

1. Southern African Countries
2. West African Countries
3. East African Countries
4. African French Speaking Countries
5. African Portuguese Speaking Countries

Categories and Prize Money:

Categories	Print Media	Online Media	Radio	Multimedia
Prize Money	USD 500	USD 500	USD 500	USD 1000

Submission deadline: 30^th July 2022. Click here (https://bit.ly/3uiwaej)  to view more details.

Sending multiple media coverage will increase the chances of winning the Media Recognition Awards.

1. 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 one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

Categories:

• English
• French
• Portuguese
• Arabic

Prize money: USD 1000 for each category.

Submission deadline: 30^th July 2022. Click here (https://bit.ly/3NaWBv7)  to view more details.

1. 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 one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

Prize Money:

10 Winners will be granted USD 500 each to execute their designs.

Submission deadline: 30^th July 2022. Click here (https://bit.ly/36IaNuY) to view more details.

1. Merck Foundation Song Awards “More Than a Mother” 2022: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG with the aim to address one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

Categories:

• English
• French
• Portuguese
• Arabic

Prize money: USD 1000 for each category.

Submission deadline: 30^th July 2022. Click here (https://bit.ly/3KYZkpm) to view more details.

Entries for all the awards to be submitted via email to submit@merck-foundation.com
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

Media Contact: 
Mehak Handa 
Community Awareness Program Manager 
+91 9310087613/ +91 9319606669  
mehak.handa@exteral.merckgroup.com 

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Website: Merck-Foundation.com
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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. 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. CLAR WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia	H.E FATIMA MAADA BIO, The First Lady of Sierra Leone
H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central African Republic	H.E. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi	H.E. MUTINTA HICHILEMA, The First Lady of Zambia
H.E. ANTOINETTE SASSOU-NGUESSO, The First Lady of Congo Brazzaville	H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique	H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, The First Lady of Zimbabwe
H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, THE First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo	H.E. MONICA GEINGOS, The First Lady of Namibia
H.E. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of The Gambia	H.E. BAZOUM HADIZA MABROUK, The First Lady of Niger
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 Guinea Conakry, H.E. CONDÉ DJENE, 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 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
• ‘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

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/32YFKpv), Twitter (bit.ly/2TeOQNj), Instagram(bit.ly/3g6OYr3) , YouTube (bit.ly/3zc3up1) and Flicker (bit.ly/2Tay0Pu).