Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative and H.E. Madam ZITA OLIGUI NGUEMA, First Lady of the Gabonese Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”
It was a pleasure welcoming and meeting my dear sister, H.E. Madam ZITA OLIGUI NGUEMA, First Lady of the Gabonese Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” at the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit. The Summit was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative, and H.E. Madam ZITA OLIGUI NGUEMA, First Lady of the Gabonese Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” along with the First Ladies of Angola, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives, Mozambique, Nigeria, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
Together with my dear sister , we have already started providing scholarships for young doctors in the fields of Oncology and Diabetes care, and this is just the beginning of our efforts to transform the public healthcare landscape in Gabon, as we will continue to scale up the number of scholarships.
Merck Foundation has always believed in the importance of building healthcare capacity and has been working for it since 2012. I am proud to share that we have so far provided over 2,280 scholarships for doctors from 52 countries in 44 underserved medical specialties, and we will soon be enrolling more doctors from Gabon in various specialties in partnership with the First Lady and the Ministry of Health.
Watch the Speech of The First Lady of Gabon & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother during the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025 here:
Watch the video of MFFLI committee meeting:
Moreover, as part of our “Educating Linda” program, we are supporting the education of 20 high-performing yet underprivileged schoolgirls annually in Gabon, in partnership with The First Lady, empowering them to pursue their dreams and shape a brighter future.
Additionally, we have conducted our first Health Media Training program in partnership with the Office of The First Lady to equip Gabonese journalists to raise awareness on critical social and health issues like ending gender-based violence, supporting girl education, and addressing diabetes and hypertension. We have also launched seven children’s storybooks in French—“More Than a Mother,” “Educating Linda,” “Jackline’s Rescue,” “Not Who You Are,” “Ride into the Future,” “Sugar Free Jude,” and “Mark’s Pressure”—to address issues like breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education, stopping GBV, and promoting diabetes and hypertension awareness.
During the Summit, we announced the Call for Applications for our eight Merck Foundation Awards in partnership with The First Lady of Gabon for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents. These awards aim to inspire creative storytelling to address social and health issues like Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, and Ending FGM. I invite Gabon’s young talents to submit their work to submit@merck-foundation.com by 30th September 2025 for “More Than a Mother” awards and 30th October 2025 for “Diabetes & Hypertension” awards.
View All Call for Applications
The Summit’s hybrid format enabled over 6,000 participants from more than 70 countries to join our discussions, amplifying our collective impact.
Kind Regards,
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej
CEO of Merck Foundation
President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative (MFFLI)
President of “More Than a Mother” Campaign
