
'Girl Education Today for Women Empowerment Tomorrow': Emphasizes Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej on International Women's Day 2025
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and One of the Most Influential African Women for Six Consecutive Years (2019 - 2024) expressed, 'Happy International Women's Day to all the remarkable women and girls around the world!
Empowering girls and women is at the core of all our initiatives and programs at Merck Foundation. I recognize the immense potential of women to thrive, succeed and excel in any domain they choose, yet they often lack the conducive environment to fully realize their capabilities, especially in underserved communities.
Therefore, together with our Ambassadors, The First Ladies of Africa, we mark International Women's Day every day since the last 13 years through our development programs and initiatives such as 'More Than a Mother', 'Merck Foundation Capacity Advancement', 'Educating Linda', and 'STEM Program'."
"Merck Foundation More Than a Mother" is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile and childless women through access to information, education and change of mindset.
'I am thrilled to share that out of the 2,282 scholarships awarded across 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties, 1063 scholarships, that is nearly 50% have been granted to female medical graduates, empowering them to become future healthcare experts and leaders.
I am especially proud that we have awarded over 716 scholarships to young doctors, dedicated to advancing women's health by strengthening reproductive, sexual health, and fertility care capacity.'
Merck Foundation CEO strongly believes that Education is one of the most critical areas of women empowerment.
'I am happy to share that through our 'Educating Linda' Program, together with my dear sisters, our Ambassadors, we are supporting the education by providing over 950 scholarships for high performance and underprivileged African schoolgirls, empowering them to complete their studies and reach their full potential and also providing essential school items for thousands of schoolgirls in many African countries such as Botswana, Burundi, Malawi, The Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabo Verde and more.
Moreover, we have benefitted thousands of girls through our awareness campaign through many initiates like the release of inspiring songs, children's storybooks, animation films, TV Program and awards for best media, song, film & fashion designs, all aimed at promoting girl education today for women's empowerment tomorrow', emphasized Senator Rasha Kelej.
Merck Foundation also actively empowers women in Science and Technology through its STEM Program and the annual Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards that recognize and celebrate the Best African Women Researchers and Best Young African Researchers, fostering research excellence.
'Our goal is to empower women and young African researchers, enhance their research capacity, and promote their contributions to STEM,' emphasized Dr. Kelej.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Bawaba
7 days ago
- Al Bawaba
'Girl Education Today for Women Empowerment Tomorrow': Emphasizes Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej on International Women's Day 2025
Merck Foundation ( the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany together with First Ladies of Africa who are also their Ambassadors, Ministries of Health, Education, Communication & Gender, mark 'International Women's Day 2025', through their impactful development programs, continuing their 13-year legacy of empowering women and girls. Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and One of the Most Influential African Women for Six Consecutive Years (2019 - 2024) expressed, 'Happy International Women's Day to all the remarkable women and girls around the world! Empowering girls and women is at the core of all our initiatives and programs at Merck Foundation. I recognize the immense potential of women to thrive, succeed and excel in any domain they choose, yet they often lack the conducive environment to fully realize their capabilities, especially in underserved communities. Therefore, together with our Ambassadors, The First Ladies of Africa, we mark International Women's Day every day since the last 13 years through our development programs and initiatives such as 'More Than a Mother', 'Merck Foundation Capacity Advancement', 'Educating Linda', and 'STEM Program'." "Merck Foundation More Than a Mother" is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile and childless women through access to information, education and change of mindset. 'I am thrilled to share that out of the 2,282 scholarships awarded across 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties, 1063 scholarships, that is nearly 50% have been granted to female medical graduates, empowering them to become future healthcare experts and leaders. I am especially proud that we have awarded over 716 scholarships to young doctors, dedicated to advancing women's health by strengthening reproductive, sexual health, and fertility care capacity.' Merck Foundation CEO strongly believes that Education is one of the most critical areas of women empowerment. 'I am happy to share that through our 'Educating Linda' Program, together with my dear sisters, our Ambassadors, we are supporting the education by providing over 950 scholarships for high performance and underprivileged African schoolgirls, empowering them to complete their studies and reach their full potential and also providing essential school items for thousands of schoolgirls in many African countries such as Botswana, Burundi, Malawi, The Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabo Verde and more. Moreover, we have benefitted thousands of girls through our awareness campaign through many initiates like the release of inspiring songs, children's storybooks, animation films, TV Program and awards for best media, song, film & fashion designs, all aimed at promoting girl education today for women's empowerment tomorrow', emphasized Senator Rasha Kelej. Merck Foundation also actively empowers women in Science and Technology through its STEM Program and the annual Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards that recognize and celebrate the Best African Women Researchers and Best Young African Researchers, fostering research excellence. 'Our goal is to empower women and young African researchers, enhance their research capacity, and promote their contributions to STEM,' emphasized Dr. Kelej.


Al Bawaba
04-06-2025
- Al Bawaba
Orange Jordan and iSystem Launch Digital Skills Workshop for Persons with Disabilities
Orange Jordan, in collaboration with iSystem, held an interactive workshop at the Orange Digital Center for Innovation to mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The event brought together 30 participants who were persons with disabilities, reinforcing the company's commitment to digital inclusion under the 'Differently Abled, Definitely Enabled' experts led hands-on training for participants with disabilities to empower them to use smartphones efficiently through specialized sessions. The training covered current and upcoming accessibility features, instructions on configuring devices to suit individual needs, and detailed explanations of the VoiceOver feature along with other assistive participants received practical tips to enhance their iPhone usage, heard an inspiring personal testimonial on content creation, and explored various entertainment and accessibility apps designed to simplify their digital Jordan emphasized that organizing this workshop builds on its previous efforts in the field, including a similar event held in 2018. This reflects the company's ongoing commitment to promoting equal opportunities, empowering all segments of society, and fostering digital inclusion. These efforts align with Orange Jordan's Sustainable Development Goals, as the company continues to develop programs and initiatives aimed at digital inclusion for persons with disabilities, ensuring their full participation through innovative tools and applications tailored to their is worth noting that the workshop also showcased Orange Jordan's digital inclusion services designed to support and effectively integrate persons with disabilities. These services include the SignBook application for sign language and the Digital Inclusion Catalogue for persons with disabilities. Additionally, the event highlighted the 7th Circle Mall, winner of the 2023 Gold Category in the 'Accessible Buildings Award,' recognized for its comprehensive accessibility features. This award was launched by the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2022 to promote inclusive environments for all persons with disabilities. To learn more, visit our website: © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba ( Signal PressWire is the world's largest independent Middle East PR distribution service.


Al Bawaba
02-06-2025
- Al Bawaba
Did a leaked report prove Imane Khelif is a biological male?
Published June 2nd, 2025 - 06:21 GMT ALBAWABA - Imane Khelif has once again been targeted on social media after leaked medical reports were released into the public domain, indicating that the Algerian boxing champion is a biological male, according to 3 Wire Sports. This all comes after Khelif sparked widespread controversy for copping the gold medal against Italy's Angela Carini during the 2024 Olympic Games. 36 hours after her win, Khelif was notified that she needed to undergo a sex test if she wanted to partake in future international competitions. On Friday, World Boxing announced a new policy stating that athletes over the age of 18 will have to undergo a sex test. World Boxing has been officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and will supervise boxing in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as reported by Roya News. The organization wrote in a statement, "Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at … any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic sex screening in accordance with World Boxing's rules and testing procedures." 🚨A blood test leaked by Olympic press committee member Alan Abrahamson confirms that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is male. The test was conducted in 2023 at the request of the IBA, and resulted in Khelif being disqualified from the women's world boxing championship in New Delhi. — REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) June 1, 2025 The document released by 3 Wire Sports indicates that the results came out "abnormal," further stating that the chromosome analysis revealed a "male karyotype." According to the National Institutes of Health, (XY) chromosomes indicate a male karyotype while (XX) is identified as a female karyotype. The test results were done by "Dr Lal PathLabs," a medical laboratory in New Delhi. It was created by the Northfield, Illinois-based College of American Pathologists (CAP) and certified by Switzerland's International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (Dr Lal PathLabs/ Obtained by 3 Wire Sports) While the professional Algerian boxer is yet to release a statement about the issue at hand, she has constantly stood her ground on being a biological woman, despite being subjected to hate and bullying. She said after winning at the 2024 Paris Olympics, "I am a woman, like any other woman. I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I compete as a woman." Khelif also stated that she competed in several competitions in the past. However, it was when she started achieving success that the hate campaigns against her were initiated. Since then, she has made several public appearances, including attending the Bottega Veneta fashion show in a mustard-colored dress, and was featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (