{"id":5300,"date":"2021-07-02T15:30:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T11:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=5300"},"modified":"2021-07-02T15:30:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T11:30:07","slug":"merck-foundation-ceo-and-burundi-first-lady-co-chaired-2021-annual-conference-to-continue-building-healthcare-capacity-break-the-infertility-stigma-and-support-girl-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=5300","title":{"rendered":"Merck Foundation CEO and Burundi First Lady co-chaired 2021 annual conference to continue building healthcare capacity, break the infertility stigma and support girl education"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CEO of Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com)<\/strong>, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, and H.E. Mrs. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of Burundi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother<\/strong>, co-chaired 2021 Annual Summit<\/strong> via videoconference to discuss their joint programs to transform patient care landscape in Burundi via building healthcare capacity and raising awareness about breaking infertility stigma and support girl education.<\/p>

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother<\/strong> emphasized, \u201cI am very proud to meet the 40 Merck Foundation\u2019s Alumni in Burundi and discuss their impact on improving the quality of healthcare in the country after receiving specialized medical scholarships provided by Merck Foundation. Moreover, celebrating the winners of the Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards and discussing their work as champions of raising awareness about infertility stigma, supporting girl education, and raising awareness about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.\u201d<\/p>

In partnership with Burundi First Lady<\/strong>, Merck Foundation has provided till today, 40 scholarships<\/strong> of specialty training in many critical and underserved specialties for young Burundian doctors with the aim to transform the landscape of patient care in the country. 32<\/strong> medical graduates have been enrolled in the fields of Diabetes, Fertility & Embryology, Oncology, and Sexual and Reproductive Health<\/strong>.<\/p>

H.E. Mrs. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of Burundi and Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother<\/strong> expressed, \u201cI am very proud that together with Merck Foundation, we made history by providing training to the first Oncologist, Fertility specialists and Embryologists in Burundi. Another 8 medical graduates have been already selected to be enrolled in PG Diploma courses in many new underserved specialties including Cancer and Clinical Oncology, Endocrinology, and Diabetes, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Neonatal Medicine, Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine; who will be the first specialists in their fields. This is an amazing achievement for our country. We will continue our efforts to provide medical scholarships to more young doctors from Burundi in the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI am very happy and proud of my association with our partner Merck Foundation. Their programs are very valuable and have brought about a significant impact in the public healthcare scenario, thus contributing to the social and economic development of Burundi\u201d, The First Lady of Burundi added<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cWe are looking forward to creating a strong medical army in Burundi with our partnership with Burundi First Lady and Ministry of Health<\/strong>. We have been able to work closely together to address sensitive and health issues such as infertility stigma and empowering girls through education\u201d, Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej added.<\/strong><\/p>

Merck Foundation together with Burundi First Lady<\/strong>, has also launched their important program \u201cEducating Linda\u201d to sponsor the education of 20 best performing girls in their secondary schools every year. This is a very important initiative to empower girls in education.<\/p>

Moreover, Merck Foundation and Burundi First Lady<\/strong> have together launched three children storybooks; \u201cDavid\u2019s story\u201d<\/strong> to emphasize strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and resulted domestic violence in the future, \u201cEducating FIFI\u201d<\/strong> story to cover the importance of empowering girls through education and \u201cMake the Right Choice\u201d<\/strong> story to raise awareness about coronavirus prevention amongst children and youth as it provides facts about the pandemic and how to stay safe and healthy during the outbreak. It also promotes honesty, hard work, and the ability to make the right choices even during the most challenging times.<\/p>

30,000 copies of the three storybooks have been distributed to young readers, school students of Burundi, with the aim to raise awareness about Covid 19, support girl education and break the infertility stigma and emphasize family values of love and respect.<\/p>

Merck Foundation and Burundi First Lady<\/strong> also announced 6 Awards for Media, Fashion, Film, and Music fraternity. Speaking about the awards, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong> explained, \u201cAfter celebrating 14 Burundi Media Winners of the first editions of \u201cMerck Foundation More Than a Mother\u201d Media Recognition Awards 2019-20 and \u201cStay at Home\u201d Media Recognition Awards 2020, we are very excited to launch together with Her Excellency, the 2021 edition of Merck Foundation awards for our media, fashion, film making, and music fraternity to raise awareness on the important topics of breaking the stigma around infertility, underscoring the importance of girls\u2019 education and women empowerment at all levels. Together, we are also announcing the Coronavirus theme-based awards as this will help in raising awareness about continuing the best practices and also show support to our frontline workers in the country\u201d.<\/p>

The awards winners of \u201cMerck Foundation More Than a Mother\u201d Africa Media Recognition Awards 2020 are:<\/strong><\/p>

Multimedia Category<\/strong><\/p>