{"id":8036,"date":"2026-02-26T12:19:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=8036"},"modified":"2026-02-26T12:19:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:19:49","slug":"dr-rasha-kelej-ceo-of-merck-foundation-after-being-recognized-as-one-of-the-100-most-influential-africans-by-new-african-magazine-named-among-the-100-most-influential-african-women-alongside-tanza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=8036","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation: After Being Recognized as One of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African Magazine, Named Among the 100 Most Influential African Women alongside Tanzania and Namibia Presidents, by Avance Media for the 7th Consecutive Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following her recent recognition as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans 2025 <\/strong>by New African Magazine (UK), Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d Campaign, <\/strong>has now been named among the 100 Most Influential African Women 2025 by Avance Media, <\/strong>for the seventh consecutive year. She is recognized alongside Africa\u2019s highest-ranking leaders, including H.E. SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN, President of Tanzania, and H.E. NDEMUPELILA NETUMBO NANDI-NDAITWAH, President of Namibia. <\/strong>The recognition highlights her unwavering commitment to women empowerment, girls\u2019 education, and the transformation of patient care across Africa<\/strong>.<\/p>

The annual list celebrates African women whose leadership, influence, and accomplishments continue to shape decision-making at the highest levels locally and internationally.<\/p>

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Commenting on the recognition,\u00a0Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong>\u00a0(Ret.)\u00a0<\/strong>said, \u201cI am deeply honored to be recognized as one of the\u00a0100 Most Influential African Women<\/strong>\u00a0for the seventh consecutive year. It is a privilege to be named alongside Africa\u2019s esteemed leaders, including the Presidents of Tanzania and Namibia, and so many inspiring change-makers.\u00a0Congratulations to all the remarkable women recognized this year.\u201d<\/p>

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\u201cI am grateful for this recognition, which acknowledges Merck Foundation\u2019s unwavering commitment to building healthcare capacity, transforming patient care landscape with a strong focus on women\u2019s health, empowering infertile women in particular and women in general, and supporting girl education to help them realize their full potential. This honor further motivates us to build a lasting legacy of impact and change across Africa for generations to come.\u201d Added\u00a0Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong>, a widely respected leader across the continent, working closely with governments, First Ladies, healthcare professionals, and local communities.<\/p>

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Dr. Rasha Kelej, Merck Foundation CEO during her visit to The Gambia<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

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Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej during her visit to Uganda<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Over a Decade of Transformative Leadership<\/strong><\/p>

Under Dr. Rasha Kelej\u2019s leadership<\/strong>, Merck Foundation has launched and scaled multiple high-impact programs, including the Scholarship Program for Healthcare Providers<\/strong>, which is transforming the patient care landscape and improving access to quality, equitable healthcare across Africa and beyond; the landmark \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d movement <\/strong>started by her in 2015, through which she is building quality & equitable reproductive and fertility care capacity, breaking infertility stigma, and raising awareness about infertility prevention and male infertility; and the \u201cEducating Linda\u201d Program<\/strong>, which supports girls\u2019 education across numerous African countries.<\/p>

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Over the past\u00a011 years<\/strong>, Dr. Rasha Kelejhas worked closely with\u00a0more than 33 First Ladies of Africa and Asia<\/strong>, who are the Ambassadors of the Merck Foundation\u00a0\u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d Campaign<\/strong>, alongside Ministries of Health, Education, Gender, Information and Communication, academia, research institutions, media, and the arts.<\/p>

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Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO with the First Ladies of Africa and Asia during the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Transforming Patient Care, Creating a Lasting Legacy<\/strong><\/p>

Under her leadership, Merck Foundation has provided more than 2500 scholarships<\/strong> to young healthcare providers from 52 countries<\/strong>, in over 44 critical and underserved medical specialties.<\/strong><\/p>

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Dr. Rasha Kelej with Merck Foundation Alumni<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Before the launch of Merck Foundation programs in 2012, many countries like\u00a0The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Burundi, Niger, Chad, Ethiopia, Namibia<\/strong>\u00a0etc. had either no, or very few, specialists in critical fields such as\u00a0oncology, fertility and reproductive care, diabetology, respiratory medicine, and intensive care<\/strong>. Through the visionary leadership of\u00a0Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong>, Merck Foundation has played a pivotal role in addressing these gaps and transforming healthcare capacity across these nations.<\/p>

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Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation with infertile women during her visit to Uganda\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

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\u201cMany of our alumni have become the first-ever specialists in their countries<\/strong>. Through these milestones, we are not only strengthening healthcare systems, we are truly making history,\u201d sheexplained.<\/p>

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Empowering Women in Healthcare and STEM, and Girls in Education<\/strong><\/p>

Out of the 2500+ scholarships provided<\/strong>, nearly 1200 have been provided to female healthcare professionals<\/strong>, reflecting their commitment to empower women in healthcare.<\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

Merck Foundation also announces annually the\u00a0MARS Awards (Merck Africa Research Summit)<\/strong>\u00a0to recognize and empower\u00a0Best African Women Researchers<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Best Young African Researchers<\/strong>, promoting African scientific research and women\u2019s participation in STEM, with a special focus on\u00a0women\u2019s health and reproductive care<\/strong>.<\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej during her visit to Uganda<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Through the\u00a0\u201cEducating Linda\u201d Program<\/strong>, in partnership with\u00a0African and Asian First Ladies<\/strong>, Dr. Kelej is supporting the education of more than 1200 girls by providing annual scholarships to deserving yet underprivileged schoolgirls, enabling them to complete their studies and achieve their full potential. The scholarships are provided for girls from 19 African countries, including Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, among others. Additionally, the program provides essential school supplies to thousands of schoolgirls across several African countries.<\/p>

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Inspiring Change Through Innovation, Art, and Creativity<\/strong><\/p>

Dr. Rasha Kelej\u2019s is raising awareness about several critical social issues like breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education, ending child marriage and FGM, stopping gender-based violence, women empowerment and also health issues like diabetes, hypertension and cancer. She strongly believes that media, fashion and art can be strong tools to raise awareness about these pressing issues and create a culture shift.<\/p>

She conceptualized, produced, directed, and hosts \u201cOur Africa by Merck Foundation\u201d<\/strong>, a unique pan-African TV program that raises awareness on health and social issues through Fashion and Art with Purpose<\/strong>. The program is broadcast across multiple African countries and streamed on Merck Foundation and Dr. Kelej\u2019s social media platforms.<\/p>

Believing strongly in the power of creative advocacy, Dr. Kelej has also:<\/p>

  • Produced\u00a0over 30 awareness songs<\/strong>\u00a0in English, French, Portuguese, and local African languages<\/li>\n\n
  • Launched\u00a09 children\u2019s storybooks<\/strong>\u00a0in three languages<\/li>\n\n
  • Developed\u00a06 animated films<\/strong>\u00a0in four languages<\/li>\n\n
  • Trained\u00a0over 4000 journalists<\/strong>\u00a0across\u00a045 countries<\/strong><\/li>\n\n
  • Established\u00a08 annual awards<\/strong>\u00a0recognizing excellence in media, fashion, film, and music for social and health impact and awareness<\/li><\/ul>
    \"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Following her recent recognition as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans 2025 by New African Magazine (UK), Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d Campaign, has now been named among the 100 Most Influential African Women 2025 by Avance Media, for the seventh consecutive year. She is recognized alongside Africa\u2019s highest-ranking leaders, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities"],"yoast_head":"\nDr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation: After Being Recognized as One of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African Magazine, Named Among the 100 Most Influential African Women alongside Tanzania and Namibia Presidents, by Avance Media for the 7th Consecutive Year | Rasha Kelej<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=8036\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation: After Being Recognized as One of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African Magazine, Named Among the 100 Most Influential African Women alongside Tanzania and Namibia Presidents, by Avance Media for the 7th Consecutive Year | Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following her recent recognition as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans 2025 by New African Magazine (UK), Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the \u201cMore Than a Mother\u201d Campaign, has now been named among the 100 Most Influential African Women 2025 by Avance Media, for the seventh consecutive year. 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