Business Wire India

• The winners got an opportunity to exhibit their designs at the Fashion Show held during the 6^th Edition of Merck Africa Asia Luminary.

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced the winners of “Merck More Than a Mother” Fashion Awards in partnership with H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana and Ambassador of ‘Merck More Than a Mother’. The award winners who are students at Ghana Fashion Academies got the opportunity to exhibit their designs at the Fashion Show held during the 6th Edition of Merck Africa Asia Luminary, which was attended by African First Ladies and Ministers of Health, Gender, Information, Education and Science from more than 25 African Countries.
 
Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President, Merck More Than a Mother emphasized “We initiated the “Merck More Than a Mother” Fashion Awards across all Africa with the aim to deliver strong and influential messages to empower infertile women and say ‘No to Infertility Stigma’ through their designs hoping to create meaningful fashion trend to educate their communities that ‘Fertility is a Shared Responsibility’, this fashion award is part of Merck more than a Mother community awareness. And We are happy today to acknowledge Ghana fashion award winners and looking forward to celebrating the rest of the winners across Africa”.
 
The awards attracted many applications, out of which, 6 best designs were chosen by the ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ committee along with The Office of First Lady of Ghana.
 
H.E. MADAM REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana and Ambassador of Merck More Than a Mother stated, “It was very nice to see the designs prepared by our future fashion designers. The creativity they showcased through their designs was applaudable. The message came out clearly through their work.”
The winners of the “Merck More Than a Mother” Fashion Awards of Ghana are:
 

• Mr. ERIC GRUNDBERRY AIDOO
• Ms. KEZIAH ANSAH-MENSAH
• Ms. AUGUSTINA ANNAN
• Mr. BOYE DOE DAVID KUSI
• Ms. SOLACE SAKAH
• Mr. JACOB ADJETEY

 
The awards winners were granted $500 each to execute and showcase their designs. The winners were greatly welcomed by African First Ladies and Ambassadors of Merck More than a Mother, who handed them the awards themselves during the ceremony. 
 
“No designer has ever, or would ever, say that he or she wanted to make things difficult for women. Fashion industry has already got enough flakes for being superficial. Fashion designers should be the story teller of their community, they should be the voice of the voiceless. Therefore, these awards are our efforts to change the perception and create a meaningful fashion trend aiming to break the silence and educate our communities that Women are more than just Mothers and Men are more than just fathers.” added Dr. Rasha Kelej.
 
About ‘Merck More Than a Mother’ campaign;
 
“Merck More Than a Mother” is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile women through access to information, education and change of mind-sets. This powerful campaign supports governments in defining policies to enhance access to regulated, safe and effective fertility care. It defines interventions to break the stigma around infertile women and raises awareness about infertility prevention, management and male infertility. In partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Information, Education & Gender, academia, policymakers, International fertility societies, media and art, the initiative also provides training for fertility specialists and embryologists to build and advance fertility care capacity in Africa and developing countries.
 
With “Merck More than a mother”, we have initiated a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility on all levels: By improving awareness, training local experts in the fields of fertility care and media, building advocacy in cooperation with African First Ladies and women leaders and by supporting childless women in starting their own small businesses. It’s all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to live a fulfilling life, with or without a child.

With “Merck More than a mother”, we have initiated a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility on all levels: By improving awareness, training local experts in the fields of fertility care and media, building advocacy in cooperation with African First Ladies and women leaders and by supporting childless women in starting their own small businesses. It’s all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to live a fulfilling life, with or without a child. 
 
The Ambassadors of “Merck More Than a Mother” are:
 

H.E. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Botswana	H.E. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of The Gambia	H.E. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique
H.E DENISE NKURUNZIZA, The First Lady of Burundi	H.E. CONDÉ DJENE, The First Lady of Guinea Conakry	H.E. MONICA GEINGOS, The First Lady of Namibia
H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central African Republic	H.E. CLAR WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia	H.E AÏSSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADO, The First Lady of Niger
H.E. HINDA DEBY ITNO, The First Lady of Chad	H.E. PROFESSOR GERTRUDE MUTHARIKA, The First Lady of Malawi	H.E FATIMA MAADA, The First Lady of Sierra Leone
H.E. ANTOINETTE SASSOU-NGUESSO, The First Lady of Congo Brazzaville	H.E. DR. MAESAIAH THABANE, The First Lady of Lesotho	H.E. AUXILLIA MNANGAGW, The First Lady of Zimbabwe
H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana	H.E. KEÏTA AMINATA MAIGA, The First Lady of Mali	H.E. ESTHER LUNGU, The First Lady of Zambia

 
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, Guinea, Ethiopia and Uganda. 

Merck Foundation launched new innovative initiatives to sensitize local communities about infertility prevention, male infertility with the aim to break the stigma of infertility and empowering infertile women as part of Merck more than a Mother COMMUNITY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN, such as;

• Merck More than a Mother media recognition award and health media training
• Merck More than a Mother fashion award
• Merck More than a Mother film award
• Local songs with local artists to address the cultural perception of infertility and how to change it
• Children storybook, localized for each country

Source: Businesswire