{"id":7912,"date":"2025-02-23T14:06:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T10:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=7912"},"modified":"2025-02-23T14:06:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T10:06:55","slug":"merck-foundation-marks-international-day-of-girls-women-in-science-2025-by-providing-over-1000-scholarships-to-women-medical-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=7912","title":{"rendered":"Merck Foundation Marks International Day of Girls & Women in Science 2025 by providing Over 1000 Scholarships to Women Medical Graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Merck Foundation<\/strong>, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, marks \u2018International Day of Girls and Women in Science 2025\u2019<\/strong> together with African First Ladies<\/strong>, and their partners like African Ministries of Health, Education, Gender & Information and Academia.<\/strong><\/p>

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Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Most Influential African Woman (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024),\u00a0<\/strong>highlighted,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAt Merck Foundation, we celebrate the\u00a0International Day of Girls and Women in Science 2025<\/strong>\u00a0by actively supporting and empowering women in science and technology. While women have made remarkable progress in their careers, they are still significantly underrepresented in these fields. Our mission is to bridge the gender gap and ensure that women have equal opportunities to thrive and lead in science and technology.\u201d<\/p>

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Merck Foundation annually launches their\u00a0MARS Awards<\/strong>\u00a0to encourage and recognize\u00a0\u2018Best African Women Researchers\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0‘Best Young African Researcher\u2019.<\/strong>\u00a0The aim of MARS Awards is to empower women and young African researchers, advance their research capacity and promote their contribution to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).<\/p>

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Recently Merck Foundation CEO hosted the virtual Award Ceremony together with their partners Africa Reproductive Care Society – ARCS, Manipal University and African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission<\/strong> to recognize African Researchers for their valuable research work and contribution to empowering women and youth in STEM in Africa with special focus on \u2018The Role of Scientific Research in Women Health and Reproductive & Fertility Care\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>

Watch Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit MARS 2024 Award Ceremony video here: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100068866061593\/videos\/544972635234822<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

During the ceremony, Merck Foundation CEO also announced the Call for Applications for <\/strong>their MARS Awards 2025.<\/strong><\/p>

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Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong> further emphasized, \u201cIn partnership with my dear sisters, African First Ladies<\/strong>, we have been transforming the patient care landscape in Africa by providing medical training to young doctors in many critical medical specialties. Out of the total 2200+ scholarships<\/strong> provided, about 1050 scholarships are for women medical graduates.<\/strong> This is close to 50% of the total Merck Foundation Alumni, which is a great milestone for us.\u201d<\/p>

Merck Foundation strongly believes that Education is one of the most critical areas of women empowerment and serves as the base and key factor in driving an impactful change.<\/p>

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\u201cTogether with\u00a0African First Ladies<\/strong>, we have has contributed to the future of\u00a0more than 700 deserving African girls by providing scholarships to continue their education and also by providing essential school items for thousands of schoolgirls through our \u201cEducating Linda\u201d program in many African countries such as Burundi, Malawi, Ghana, The Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and more.<\/p>

Moreover, we have benefitted thousands of girls through our awareness campaign which includes releasing many inspiring children\u2019s storybooks, animation films and songs to support girl education and end child marriage\u201d, shared Senator Kelej.<\/strong><\/p>

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In partnership with\u00a0The First Ladies of Africa,<\/strong>\u00a0Merck Foundation also launched the 2025 Edition of their annual awards of best Media work, Film, Song and Fashion Designs to Support Girl Education and raise awareness on other sensitive social issues.<\/p>

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Merck Foundation has also introduced and launched interesting storybooks for children to underline the importance of girls\u2019 education and enable them to reach their potential in STEM. The storybooks are available in three languages: English, French and Portuguese.<\/p>

Additionally, Merck Foundation has adapted their storybooks to create interesting animation films with the purpose of reaching out to the communities to raise awareness on the important supporting girl education and ending child marriage.<\/p>

Watch Ride into the Future Animation Film here:<\/strong><\/p>

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