Merck Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) meets The First Lady of Senegal & 6 African First Ladies of Africa at the 12th Africa Asia Luminary 2025 in The Gambia
DAKAR, Senegal: Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com/), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, recently conducted the 12th Edition of their annual conference, “Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary”, in partnership with the Government of The Gambia. The conference was co-chaired by H.E. Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of Gambia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother and Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of More Than a Mother. The First Lady of Senegal, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, along with The First Ladies of Burundi, Central Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, and São Tomé and Príncipe joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers.
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.) expressed, “I am very happy to meet my dear sister, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”. We had a very meaningful discussion about our ongoing joint programs in the country to transform the public healthcare landscape and raise awareness about a wide range of social health issues. I am happy to share that we have so far provided 29 scholarships for Senegalese doctors in many specialties such as Oncology, Diabetes, Fertility, and Embryology. We also discussed scalping up of the programs.”
H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” shared, “It is a great pleasure to partner and work closely with Merck Foundation. I deeply appreciate their programs, and I am very excited to share that together we have launched the Educating Linda program in my country, through which we are providing annual scholarships to 40 best performing schoolgirls who are underprivileged.
Moreover, Merck Foundation has provided 29 scholarships for our doctors across key specialties such as oncology, fertility, embryology and diabetes. All of these scholarships are of great importance and are helping us transform our patient care landscape.”
Watch the Speech of The First Lady of Senegal & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother during the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 here: https://apo-opa.co/47Om8W0
Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej receiving H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”: https://apo-opa.co/3LBq5Gf
On Day 1 of the conference, the Plenary Session of the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 took place, featuring keynote speeches of First Ladies of Africa. Moreover, a high-level ministerial panel discussion was also held with African Ministers to discuss the Merck Foundation African Research Summit MARS strategy to build scientific research capacity and empower women in STEM with special focus on scientific research.
On Day 2 of the conference, Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative- MFFLI committee meeting was conducted between The First Ladies of Africa and Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO, where the African First Ladies shared the impact report of Merck Foundation programs in their respective countries, and future strategy was discussed.
