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Merck Foundation CEO and Malawi First Lady meet other 12 African First Ladies during 9th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 to approve their future strategy and announce their impact report and call for action to build healthcare capacity and empower women & girls in Malawi; Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com<\/a>) is transforming the Patient care landscape and making history together with Malawi First lady and other partners in Africa, Asia, and beyond. Watch the partnership journey: <\/strong>(https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/46pwJVY<\/a>); <\/strong>Watch the overview of the 2-day Hybrid 9th Edition of the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 here: (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3YHgHSf<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Merck Foundation<\/strong>, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, recently conducted their annual conference, the 9th Edition of \u201cMerck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary\u201d.<\/strong> The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees<\/strong>, and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary<\/strong>, and H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d<\/strong> along with African First Ladies of Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Zambia, Angola and Central Africa.<\/strong><\/p>\n Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong> emphasized, \u201cOur long-term partnership with my dear sister, H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d<\/strong> started in 2020 and we have achieved a lot in a very short time since then.<\/p>\n We discussed our joint programs and strategy during our meeting at the 9th edition of our Luminary and, report its impact in the country. I am proud to share that together we have provided 40 scholarships to our local doctors in critical and underserved specialties such as Diabetes, Endocrinology, Internal Medicine, Oncology, Fertility & Embryology, Sexual & Reproductive care, and Clinical Psychiatry. I am looking forward to transforming patient care in Malawi through our long-term partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d<\/strong> emphasized, \u201cOur partnership started in 2020 and Merck Foundation programs have been beneficial for the people of my country, in a very short span.<\/p>\n I am proud to share that as a part of \u2018Empowering Berna\u2019<\/strong> program, 13 women<\/strong> have transformed their lives as they got a chance to establish their own small businesses so that they can be financially independent. Moreover, 40 scholarships<\/strong> have been provided to young Malawian doctors in 32<\/strong> critical medical specialties.<\/p>\n I am also very happy to initiate Merck Foundation\u2019s important program \u201cEducating Linda\u201d through which 60 Malawian school girls were provided scholarships<\/strong> to continue their education till they graduate. This is a very important initiative to empower our girls in education. My journey with Merck Foundation has definitely been amazing, very impactful and efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch partnership journey of Merck Foundation with Malawi First Lady: <\/span><\/strong>https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/46pwJVY<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Watch the video of The First Lady of Malawi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d during the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 here:\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3JE4qsZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n On day 2 of the Luminary, Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative- MFFLI committee meeting was also conducted between The First Ladies and Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO. During the MFFLI committee meeting, the future strategy of 2023 was discussed and the impact of their partnership programs since 2020, were announced.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally enjoyed our reading session of Children\u2019s storybooks created by Merck Foundation, \u2018Jackline\u2019s Rescue\u2019 \u2013 to focus on the importance of Girl Education and highlight the immoral practices of society including child marriage & dowry system; and \u2018A Ride Into The Future\u2019 \u2013 to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education. It was my favorite part of MFFLI committee, I hope we keep doing this every year\u201d, Senator Rasha Kelej<\/strong> emphasized.<\/p>\n Watch the video of MFFLI<\/strong> committee meeting:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3T9pRph<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n During the Luminary, an important one to one meeting between The First Lady of Malawi and Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej was also held to discuss the impact of on-going programs and define strategies to further build healthcare and media capacity in Malawi.<\/p>\n Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej <\/strong>meeting with Malawi First Lady, H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3JxntFd<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej receiving Malawi First Lady, H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/46tzENh<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Together with Malawi First Lady, <\/strong>Merck Foundation has provided 40 scholarships<\/strong> to local doctors in Malawi in critical and underserved specialties so far. 7<\/strong> scholarships have been provided to doctors in Fertility and Embryology, and 11<\/strong> scholarships for 1 year PG Diploma and 2-year master\u2019s degree in Sexual and Reproductive Medicine. This has contributed and will continue to contribute towards breaking the infertility stigma and empowering infertile women through access to information, education and change of mindset.<\/p>\n 1 <\/strong>scholarship has been provided for PG Diploma in Internal Medicine, and 1 <\/strong>scholarship has been provided for PG Diploma in Clinical Psychiatry.<\/p>\n Moreover, 20 <\/strong>scholarships have been provided for training, Fellowship, PG Diploma and master\u2019s degree programs in Oncology, Cancer and Clinical Oncology, Diabetes, and Endocrinology. This will enable doctors to establish their own diabetes and oncology care centers in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cOur vision is that everyone can lead healthy and happy life. For 10 years this has been true in our mission to build healthcare capacity, transform patient care landscape, break infertility stigma, empower women and support girl education. Through our partnership with First Lady of<\/strong> Malawi<\/strong> along with Ministry of Health and Communications of Malawi, we can impact the lives of people in the most disadvantaged communities in Malawi and beyond, leading them to a better future\u201d, said Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Merck Foundation<\/strong> in partnership with The Malawi First Lady <\/strong>has also initiated \u201cEducating Linda<\/strong>\u201d Program, which is very important for Malawian girls as through this program, scholarships are provided to 60 Malawian girls to continue their education till they graduate. Additionally, Merck Foundation distributed 3000 essential school items sets to school-going girls to support them.<\/p>\n Moreover, Merck Foundation<\/strong> together with The First Lady of Malawi and The Ministry of Education <\/strong>launched three children\u2019s storybooks titled: \u201cChosadziwa Phiris’ story<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> to emphasize on the strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and resulted domestic violence in the future, \u201cEducating Alinafe Story\u201d<\/strong> to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education and \u201cMake the Right Choice\u201d<\/strong> to raise awareness about coronavirus prevention amongst children and youth, \u201cJackline\u2019s Rescue\u201d <\/strong>to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education, \u201cNot Who You Are\u201d <\/strong>to teach boys to love and respect their future wives and eliminate domestic violence, \u201cRide into the Future\u201d<\/strong> to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education and \u201cSugar free Jude\u201d <\/strong>to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness on the early detection and prevention of Diabetes. 30,000 copies of these storybooks have been distributed to school students of Malawi, thousands of more copies are to be distributed soon.<\/p>\n Merck Foundation<\/strong> also announced the Call for applications for their 8 important awards in partnership<\/strong> with The First Lady of Malawi <\/strong>for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.<\/p>\n The 9th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 <\/strong>was streamed live on the social media handles of Merck Foundation (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3Ykd3hH<\/a>) <\/strong>and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3SfA0AF<\/a>)<\/strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n Link to the Facebook live steam of Inaugural Session of<\/strong> Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary & African First Ladies High Level Panel:<\/strong> https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3lcxQp9<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Merck Foundation<\/strong> is transforming the Patient care landscape and making history together with its partners in Africa, Asia, and beyond, through:<\/p>\n \u2022 1580 + Scholarships provided by Merck Foundation for doctors from 50 Countries in 39 critical and underserved medical specialties. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Merck Foundation<\/strong> 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:<\/p>\n \u2022 2500+ Media Persons<\/strong> from more than 50 countries<\/strong> trained to better raise Awareness about different social and health issues<\/p>\n \u2022 8 Different Awards<\/strong> Launched annually for best media coverage, fashion designers, films, and songs<\/p>\n \u2022 Around 30 songs<\/strong> to address health and social issues by local singers across Africa<\/p>\n \u2022 8 Children\u2019s Storybooks<\/strong> in three languages – English, French, and Portuguese<\/p>\n \u2022 Pan African TV Program “Our Africa by Merck Foundation\u201d<\/strong> addressing Social and Health Issues in Africa through \u201cFashion and ART with Purpose\u201d Community<\/p>\n \u2022 1000+ Girls from 15 African<\/strong> countries supported through scholarships or school items, annually.<\/p>\n \u2022 9 Social Media Channels<\/strong> with more than 5 Million Followers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.<\/i><\/p>\n More images here:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3PuF6tk<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Media contact:<\/strong> Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard:<\/strong> About Merck Foundation:<\/strong> Source<\/a> Merck Foundation CEO and Malawi First Lady meet other 12 African First Ladies during 9th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 to approve their future strategy and announce their impact report and call for action to build healthcare capacity and empower women & girls in Malawi; Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) is transforming the Patient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":151735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/thumb\/369c6fcfc8d6470\/600\/418","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[252],"tags":[258,256,24143,302,5707,4696,4689,303,7213,6510,1632,7924,7631,5265,9643,12370,44896,7369,6669,5028,5956,257,10869,6020,26417,9825,254,6096,6026,6524],"class_list":["post-151734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-central-african-republic","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-amp","tag-car","tag-car-news","tag-central-africa","tag-central-african-republic","tag-central-african-republic-news","tag-ceo","tag-chief","tag-education","tag-empower","tag-executive","tag-foundation","tag-girl","tag-healthcare","tag-infertile","tag-journey","tag-lady","tag-malawi","tag-merck","tag-news","tag-officer","tag-partnership","tag-providers","tag-shares","tag-south-africa-today","tag-support","tag-train","tag-women"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/thumb\/369c6fcfc8d6470\/600\/418","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMehak Handa\u00a0
\nCommunity Awareness Program Manager\u00a0
\n+91\u00a09310087613\/ +91 9319606669\u00a0\u00a0
\nmehak.handa@external.merckgroup.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFacebook:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3Ykd3hH<\/a>
\nTwitter:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3Yo3y11<\/a>
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\nFlickr:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3JT8BSC<\/a>
\nWebsite:\u00a0Merck-Foundation.com<\/a>
\nDownload the Merck Foundation App:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3xeJMsI<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe 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\u00a0Merck-Foundation.com<\/a>\u00a0to read more. To know more, reach out to our social media: Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com<\/a>); Facebook (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3Ykd3hH<\/a>), Twitter (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3Yo3y11<\/a>), Instagram (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3lsqM7q<\/a>), YouTube (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3CNFGLa<\/a>), and Flickr (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3JT8BSC<\/a>).<\/p>\n
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South Africa Today Africa \u2013 Central Africa Central African Republic<\/a> News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"