Merck Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) celebrates 124 Winners from 32 Countries for their Media Awards for Breaking infertility Stigma and Supporting Girl Education

Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, in partnership with the First Ladies of Africa, announced the winners of the Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards 2025 under the categories “More Than a Mother” and “Diabetes and Hypertension.” The awards recognize and celebrate the outstanding contributions of journalists who are raising awareness about critical social and health issues across Africa and beyond.

The Awards Ceremony was conducted virtually to honour and celebrate the outstanding contributions of all the winning media professionals. The winners were warmly acknowledged by Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of the “More Than a Mother” campaign.

Congratulating the winners, Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.), CEO of Merck Foundation, shared, “I am very happy to announce and celebrate the 124 outstanding winners from 32 countries, together with my dear sisters, the First Ladies of Africa, who are also the Ambassadors of the ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’.

I am proud of the remarkable participation we have witnessed in form of entries for the awards. Congratulations to each and every one of our outstanding winners.”

This year, Merck Foundation also recognized and awarded emerging and promising media talents under the Emergent Journalist Award category. All the winners will be acknowledged and celebrated by the CEO of Merck Foundation during a virtual award ceremony.

Dr. Rasha Kelej further emphasized, “I strongly believe in the power of media and the significant role it plays in shaping our society. As I always say, media enters every home, even without an invitation. Therefore, journalists have the unique ability to make a meaningful difference through their day-to-day work by raising awareness and driving a cultural shift in their communities.”

The theme of the “More Than a Mother” Media Awards is to raise awareness about important social issues like: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending Female Genital Mutilation and/or Stopping Gender-Based Violence. The theme of the “Diabetes and Hypertension” Media Awards is to Promote a Healthy Lifestyle and Raise Awareness about Prevention, Early detection and Management of Diabetes and Hypertension.

The Merck Foundation Media Awards were first launched in 2017 and have been announced annually since then, in partnership with the First Ladies of Africa and Asia.

Highlighting the long-term impact of the program, Dr. Rasha added, “We launched our Media Awards nine years ago with the aim of empowering journalists to spotlight important health and social issues in their respective communities. I am proud to share that, to date, we have recognized and celebrated more than 760 winners from 52 countries.”

The CEO of Merck Foundation also announced the Call for Applications for the Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards 2026.

“I am pleased to invite entries for the Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” and “Diabetes and Hypertension” 2026, in partnership with the African and Asian First Ladies. I look forward to receiving another outstanding round of impactful and inspiring entries this year,” said Dr. Rasha Kelej.