Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative and H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central African Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”
It was a pleasure welcoming and meeting my dear sister, H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central African Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” at the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit. It 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 BRIGITTE TOUADERA, First Lady of Central African Republic & Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”, along with First Ladies of Angola, Cabo Verde, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives, Mozambique, Nigeria, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
Together with my dear sister, we have provided scholarships for young doctors in the fields of Oncology and Diabetes, and we will continue to scale up these programs to transform the public healthcare landscape in the country. We have also embarked on important initiatives to strengthen healthcare capacity and address critical social and health challenges, including the enrollment of more local doctors into our scholarship program. I am equally proud that, through our Educating Linda program, we are supporting 40 deserving yet underprivileged schoolgirls to complete their education until graduation, empowering them to pursue their dreams and build a better future.
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 2,280 scholarships for doctors from 52 countries in 44 underserved specialties, and we will be enrolling more local doctors from Central African Republic in partnership with the First Lady and the Ministry of Health.
Watch the Speech of The First Lady of Central African Republic & 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:
Together with the Office of the First Lady of Central African Republic, we have conducted 3 editions of our Online Health Media Training to encourage the media to be the voice of the voiceless and raise awareness on critical social and health issues. We have also implemented the Empowering Berna program to support infertile and childless women by helping them establish small businesses and become economically independent. In addition, we have launched seven French-language children’s storybooks — 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 infertility stigma, support girl education, stop GBV, and promote diabetes and hypertension awareness.
During the Summit, we also announced the Call for Applications for our eight Merck Foundation Awards in partnership with The First Lady of Central African Republic for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents. These awards aim to encourage young talents in Central Africa to create work that raises awareness about issues such as Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Stopping Gender Based Violence, Ending Child Marriage and FGM, and promoting early detection & prevention of Diabetes & Hypertension. I invite Central African Republic’s young talents to submit their creative work to submit@merck-foundation.com.
The Summit’s hybrid format enabled over 6,000 participants from more than 70 countries to join our discussions, amplifying our 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
