Media professionals in Africa have been invited to apply for ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media recognition Awards 2018 sponsored by Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany.
The applicants are to showcase their work to raise awareness about infertility prevention and make infertility and breaking infertility stigma in Africa.
The awards according to a press statement were introduced last year to recognize the outstanding health journalism and to recognize individual professional journalists who have produced accurate, informative, and compelling stories about infertile women or couples in Africa.
Who can apply?
Journalists from print, online, radio and multimedia platforms.
Last date of submission:
Entries can be submitted till 31st March 2019.
How to apply?
Entries can be submitted via email to Mystory@MerckMoreThanAMother.com
Categories and prize money:
| Category | Multimedia | Print Media | Online Media | Radio |
| Prize Money | USD 3000 | USD 1000 | USD 1000 | USD 1000 |
“I strongly believe in the critical role media play to sensitize communities. Therefore we have created these media awards with the aim to recognize the outstanding journalistic coverage that enhances the public engagement and understanding of infertility, breaking its stigma and emphasizing the need to change the social perception of it in African communities.
“We have also started two relevant hashtags #MenToo can suffer infertility not women only, and #NoForInfertilityStigma to appeal to all our media partners to start this movement across their platforms” said Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck More Than a Mother.
Merck Foundation recently concluded a ceremony to announce the winners of the ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ Media Recognition Awards 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. The ceremony was attended by over 200 journalists from 17 African countries.
Here are the details of first award winners from profession journalist’s category from each segment:
The Award from the Multimedia Segment was given to Ms. Namukabo L Werungah and her team from NTV Kenya for their excellent story named ‘A tale of pain and shame of childless women in Busia‘.
The First Award from the Print Media Segment was received by Mr. Gardy Chacha, Senior Health and Science Reporter from Standard Newspaper, Kenya. He was selected for his soul-stirring story named ‘Cecilia Wairimu: One woman, Three marriages, 11 years of Infertility’.
The First Award from the Online Media Segment was given to Ms. Molatelo Mainetje, News and Current Affair Producer and Documentary Filmmaker from South Africa for her short film called ‘Womb Man’.
Ms. Asha Bakidusa, Journalist with Royal Media Services Limited, Under Bahari FM, Kenya was given the First Award for the Radio Segment for her program on‘How family men supporting their spouses in cases of Infertility’.
All the award winners were present during the ceremony to collect their award.
About ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ campaign;
In many cultures, childless women suffer discrimination, stigma, and ostracism. Their inability to have children results in great isolation, disinheritance, and assaults. “Merck More Than a Mother” empowers such women through the access to information, health, change of mindsets and economic empowerment.
As part of this Campaign, we started “Empowering Berna” project in Africa to help childless and infertile women starting their own business and thus achieve financial independence and become stronger and happier. The project has benefited more than 1,000 women across the continent.
Also, part of the campaign is our Merck Embryology & Fertility Training Program, a three-month hands-on practical course to establish the platform of fertility specialists across Africa and Asia.
Merck Foundation provided for more than 50 candidates, three months to six months clinical and practical training for fertility specialists and embryologists in more than 29 countries across Africa and Asia such as: Chad, Niger, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire , Ghana, Ethiopia , Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania , Zambia , Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Fuso, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameron, Rwanda, Botswana, DR Congo , Congo Brazzaville, Gambia , Nepal, Siri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Merck Foundation is making history in many African countries where they never had fertility specialists or specialized fertility clinics before ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ intervention, to train the first fertility specialists such as; in Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Niger, Chad, and Guinea.
Merck Foundation plan supported the establishment of the first public IVF centers in Ethiopia and Uganda through providing the clinical and practical training necessary for their staff. Merck Foundation also plans to support the establishment of the first public IVF in Tanzania soon.
“Merck more than a Mother” launched in 2015, is a program of the Merck Foundation, the foundation drives many of our initiatives and programs in the area of build health care and research capacity and improves access to equitable healthcare solutions.