Many congratulations to all the winners of Merck Foundation “Stay at Home“ Media Recognition Awards 2020 from Africa. The theme of the awards was ‘Raising Awareness on how to Stay Safe and Keep Physically and Mentally Healthy during Coronavirus Lockdown’ with the aim to separate facts from myths and misconceptions.
This Award was introduced in the continent in partnership with African First Ladies of Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Guinea Conakry, Burundi, Central African Republic (C.A.R.), Chad, Zimbabwe, Zambia, The Gambia, Liberia and Congo Brazzaville, Angola and Mozambique.
I am proud to share with you the list of Winners from African Countries under the following groups: 1) East African Countries, 2) West African Countries, 3) Southern African Countries, 4) French-Speaking African Countries and 5) Portuguese speaking African countries in the below four categories:
1. Online Category
2. Print Category
3. Multimedia Category
4. Radio Category
Here are the winners from Southern AfricanCountries in partnership with The First Lady ofMalawi, H.E. MONICA CHAKWERA; The First Lady of Namibia, H.E. MONICA GEINGOS; The First Lady of Zimbabwe, H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA; The First Lady Of The Republic Of Zambia, H.E ESTHER LUNGU:
Here are the winners from West African Countries in partnership with The First Lady of The Gambia, H. E. FATOUMATTA BAHBARROW and The First Lady of Liberia, H.E. CLAR MARIE WEAH:
Here are the winners from French-speaking African Countries in partnership with The First Lady ofCentral African Republic (CAR), H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA; The First Lady of Burundi, H.E. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE; The First Lady of Niger, H.E. AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU:
Here are the winners from Portuguese-speaking African Countries in partnership with The First Lady ofAngola, H.E. ANA DIAS LOURENÇOand The First Lady of Mozambique, H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI :
I strongly believe that media can play a significant role in sensitizing people about sensitive issues such as Coronavirus global pandemic. We, at Merck Foundation, launched this initiative to appreciate and recognize the distinguished reportage and the exceptional work of journalists who frequently covered the impact and shared facts and information related to the COVID-19 pandemic in their countries.
The Merck Foundation Media Awards Committee introduced a second and a third position and selected more than one winner, on some occasions, for each of the Four Categories i.e. online, print, multimedia, and radio. This was due to the high quality of work received from the participants and to encourage more talented and passionate media representatives across all the formats of media in the continent.
Moreover, the valuable contribution from the winners in sensitizing their respective communities about COVID 19 has encouraged us to additionally reward them all to become Merck Foundation Alumni and provide 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. This offering from Merck Foundation aims to motivate passionate journalists to continue writing and advocating for social, economic, and health issues across their countries.
Big congratulations to all the winners again and we look forward to a long-term contribution to further raise awareness and be the voice of the voiceless, particularly during such a global health pandemic.
Kind regards,
Dr. Rasha Kelej
CEO of Merck Foundation
President of Merck More Than A Mother
One of the 100 Most Influential Africans (2019, 2020)
