Dr. Rasha Kelej Meets Senegal First Lady at the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025
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.
Business Wire India
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 Senegal, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, along with The First Ladies of Burundi, Central Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, and São Tomé and Príncipe joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers.
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.) expressed, “I am very happy to meet my dear sister, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”. We had a very meaningful discussion about our ongoing joint programs in the country to transform the public healthcare landscape and raise awareness about a wide range of social health issues. I am happy to share that we have so far provided 29 scholarships for Senegalese doctors in many specialties such as Oncology, Diabetes, Fertility, and Embryology. We also discussed scaling up of the programs.”
H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” shared, “It is a great pleasure to partner and work closely with Merck Foundation. I deeply appreciate their programs, and I am very excited to share that together we have launched the Educating Linda program in my country, through which we are providing annual scholarships to 40 best performing schoolgirls who are underprivileged.
Moreover, Merck Foundation has provided 29 scholarships for our doctors across key specialties such as oncology, fertility, embryology and diabetes. All of these scholarships are of great importance and are helping us transform our patient care landscape.”
Watch the Speech of The First Lady of Senegal & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother during the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 here: https://youtu.be/g7CoXpbG9CM
Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej receiving H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”: https://youtu.be/lfIQgKsEuI0
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
Together with Senegal First Lady, Merck Foundation has provided 29 scholarships for local doctors in Senegal in many critical and underserved specialties. Out of 29 scholarships:
- 8 Scholarships have been provided in the vital field of oncology, so that the patients can receive quality and equitable cancer care in their home country.
- 11 Scholarships have been provided for our doctors for hands-on training in Fertility and Embryology, as well as for One-Year Postgraduate and Two-Year Master's Degrees in Sexual and Reproductive Care. This will significantly contribute to the advancement of women’s health and revolutionize the Reproductive and Fertility care in Senegal.
- 10 scholarships have been provided for Diabetes Master Course. Upon completion, these doctors will not only be equipped to effectively treat patients with diabetes but will also play a key role in raising awareness about the condition and promoting the importance of a healthy lifestyle in our communities.
“Merck Foundation has always believed in the importance of building healthcare capacity and has been working for it since 2012. We have so far provided more than 2400 scholarships for healthcare providers from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties. We will continue to provide scholarships of doctors from Senegal and beyond,” added Dr. Kelej.
Merck Foundation in partnership with First Lady of Senegal has launched many community awareness initiatives to address a wide range of social and health issues.
Together with the office of the First Lady of Senegal recently conducted their Online Health Media Training to encourage the journalists to be the voice of the voiceless and create a culture shift around critical social issues like supporting girl education, ending GBV and FGM, women empowerment, and health issues like diabetes and hypertension awareness.
Merck Foundation also announced the 2026 Call for applications for their 8 important awards in partnership with The First Lady of Senegal for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.
Moreover, in partnership with The First Lady of Senegal, Merck Foundation is launching their children’s storybooks, “More Than a Mother”, “Educating Linda”, “Jackline’s Rescue”, “Not Who You Are”, “Ride into the Future” and “Sugar free Jude”, “Mark’s Pressure”, and “Ray of Hope”. The storybooks address various social and health issues like breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education, stopping GBV, diabetes and hypertension awareness. The storybooks will be made available in French Language, and thousands of copies will be distributed to school children.
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:
- 2400+ 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 raise awareness about different social and health issues
- 8 Different Awards launched annually for best media coverage, film, song and fashion.
- Around 30 songs to address health and social issues, by local singers across Africa
- 9 Children’s Storybooks in four languages – English, French, Portuguese, and Swahilli
- 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
- 1040+ Scholarships provided annually to high performing but under-privileged African schoolgirls from 18 countries, to empower them to complete their studies
- 15 Social Media Channels with more than 8.5 Million Followers.
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