First Ladies Unite with Merck Foundation to Transform Healthcare and Education

The Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, hosted the 7th Edition of the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative (MFFLI) Summit 2025 in Libreville, bringing together 14 First Ladies from Africa and Asia, including H.E. Madam Zita Oligui Nguema, First Lady of Gabon and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”.

The Summit, inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, provided a platform for high-level discussions on healthcare and social development across the continent.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Rasha Kelej said, “It was a pleasure meeting my dear sister, H.E. Madam Zita Oligui Nguema. Together, we have begun providing scholarships for young doctors in Oncology and Diabetes care in Gabon. This is only the beginning of our efforts to transform the public healthcare landscape in the country, and we will continue to scale up the number of scholarships.”

H.E. Madam Zita Oligui Nguema highlighted the partnership’s early successes since 2024. “We have enrolled local doctors for scholarship programmes and launched the ‘Educating Linda’ initiative, offering annual scholarships to 20 high-performing underprivileged girls, giving them the chance to pursue their career aspirations and dreams.”

During the second day of the Summit, a Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative (MFFLI) committee meeting was held, where First Ladies shared impact reports of Merck Foundation programmes in their respective countries and discussed future strategies to strengthen healthcare capacity and social initiatives.

Merck Foundation has provided 2,280 scholarships to doctors across 52 countries in 44 underserved medical specialties since 2012. The Foundation, in partnership with the First Lady of Gabon, has also conducted its first Health Media Training programme to build the capacity of local media in raising awareness on critical issues such as gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, girl education, women’s empowerment, and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

In addition, the Foundation announced the Call for applications for eight awards in partnership with the Office of the First Lady of Gabon. These awards target media professionals, musicians, fashion designers, filmmakers, students, and emerging talents to promote social awareness through creative expression.

The partnership has also resulted in the launch of seven children’s storybooks in French, including More Than a Mother, Educating Linda, Jackline’s Rescue, Not Who You Are, Ride into the Future, Sugar-Free Jude, and Mark’s Pressure. These publications address social and health issues, including infertility stigma, gender-based violence, diabetes, hypertension, and the promotion of girl education.

Merck Foundation continues to make a global impact through:

• Training 3,700+ media persons from over 35 countries.
• Launching eight annual awards for media, music, fashion, and film.
• Supporting over 950 scholarships for high-performing, underprivileged African schoolgirls.
• Producing seven awareness animation films in five languages.
• Broadcasting the Pan-African TV programme Our Africa by Merck Foundation, addressing social and health issues through “Fashion and ART with Purpose”.
• Reaching over 8 million followers across 15 social media channels.

The 7th Edition of MFFLI Summit 2025 was streamed live via Merck Foundation’s social media platforms:

• Facebook: https://apo-opa.co/3Vch0VW
• X: https://apo-opa.co/4ns6hCS
• Instagram: https://apo-opa.co/46yAXMQ
• YouTube: https://apo-opa.co/3K13KRs

Dr. Kelej concluded, “We will soon be enrolling more doctors from Gabon across various medical specialties in partnership with the First Lady and the Ministry of Health of Gabon, further strengthening healthcare capacity and transforming lives.”