I am truly proud to mark the 10th Anniversary of “More Than a Mother” movement, it has been an extraordinary journey, one that is very close to my heart.
I created “More Than a Mother” to break the stigma around infertility and to empower women living with infertility through access to information, education, health and change of mindset.
Over the last 10 years, I have been honoured to work closely with over 33 African and Asian First Ladies of countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, São Tomé & Príncipe, Nigeria, Mozambique, Maldives, Malawi, Liberia, Kenya, Ghana, Gambia, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cabo Verde, Burundi, Botswana, and Angola as Ambassadors of “Merck Foundation More than a Mother” to build reproductive and fertility care capacity, break infertility stigma and support girl education.
As a part of the “More Than a Mother” movement, Merck Foundation, together with African and Asian First Ladies, and their key partners including Ministries of Health, Information, Education and Gender, academia, policymakers, international fertility societies, media, and art, has been breaking infertility stigma, raising awareness about male infertility, and making history by reshaping the landscape of fertility and reproductive care across Africa and beyond.
As a part of the “More Than a Mother” movement, Merck Foundation, together with African and Asian First Ladies, and their key partners including Ministries of Health, Information, Education and Gender, academia, policymakers, international fertility societies, media, and art, has been breaking infertility stigma, raising awareness about male infertility, and making history by reshaping the landscape of fertility and reproductive care across Africa and beyond.
Moreover, we have also supported the establishment of the first-ever Public IVF centres in many countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Niger, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Guinea, by providing scholarships to train their IVF and fertility care teams.
We have also been empowering childless and infertile women through our “Empowering Berna” initiative under the “More Than a Mother” movement. This initiative helps women who cannot be treated for infertility anymore by helping them get trained to establish small businesses so that they can be independent and rebuild their lives. Through ‘Empowering Berna’, the lives of many infertile women have been transformed in many African countries like Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Niger, Malawi, and many more.
It’s all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to lead a fulfilling life, with or without a child.
Moreover, Merck Foundation has trained more than 3700 media representatives from more than 35 countries to raise community awareness and break the stigma around infertility and infertile and childless women.
In partnership with Africa’s First Ladies, we have also launched ‘More Than Mother’ Children’s storybook to emphasize strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and the resulted domestic violence in the future. The storybooks have been localized for each country and in three languages, English, French and Portuguese to better connect with the young readers. The book has also been adapted to an animation film.
Watch More Than a Mother Animation Film here:
Our pan African TV program “Our Africa”, that is conceptualized, produced, directed, and co-hosted by me, and features African Fashion Designers, Singers, and prominent experts from various domains with the aim to raise awareness and create a culture shift across Africa, has many episodes dedicated to raise awareness about infertility and breaking infertility stigma.
Watch the episodes here:
Episode 3:
Episode 5:
Episode 10:
We have also released about 30 songs, many of these songs have been created with the aim to break the infertility stigma, as a part of their “More Than a Mother” campaign. Listen to some of the songs here:
Watch, share & subscribe to the ‘Plus qu’une MERE’ composed and sung by Ms. Lucky-Lou, the daughter of The President and The First Lady of Burundi:
Watch, share & subscribe to the “More Than a Mother” song by Cwesi Oteng and Adina from Ghana:
Watch, share & subscribe to the “More Than a Mother” song by Zambian Soul Singer Wezi:
Watch, share & subscribe to the “More Than a Mother” song by Sunita Daffeh from the Gambia:
Listen to all “More than a Mother” songs here:
To address this important issue of breaking infertility stigma and also a wide range of other social issues, we annually launch Merck Foundation ‘More Than a Mother’ Awards in partnership with African First Ladies. I would also like to invite the African Community of Media, Fashion, Filmmaking, and Musicians, students, and potential talents in these fields to apply for the awards this year by sharing their creative work. Click to apply here:
Kind regards,
Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.)
CEO of Merck Foundation
President of “More Than a Mother” Movement