Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, conducted the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative - MFFLI Summit 2025 recently. It was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative and H.E. Dr. DÉBORA KATISA CARVALHO, The First Lady of Cabo Verde and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” along with First Ladies of Angola, Central African Republic, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives, Mozambique, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Zimbabwe.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej expressed, “It was great meeting my dear sister H.E. Dr. DÉBORA KATISA CARVALHO, The First Lady of Cabo Verde and the Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” during the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025. Together we have started to provide scholarships for young doctors in the fields of Oncology and Fertility, and they will soon begin their programs. This marks an important milestone for us in building healthcare capacity in Cabo Verde.

We also signed an MoU to underscore our long-term partnership and to continue our programs in the country.”

H.E. Dr. DÉBORA KATISA CARVALHO, The First Lady of Cabo Verde & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother, stated, “It was indeed a great pleasure to be a part of the prestigious conference together with my dear sisters, First Ladies of Africa and Asia, and hearing from them about the impact of Merck Foundation programs in their respective countries. I am proud to share that we have initiated the Merck Foundation Scholarships Program and have enrolled our doctors for Oncology and Fertility Training programs.

Moreover, I am very happy that we have also started the Educating Linda program in our country, through which we have awarded scholarships to 42 of our students nationwide, enabling them to complete their education and unlock their full potential. I believe that education is the foundation of every thriving nation. Hence, these scholarships are of great importance to us.”

During the Summit, a strategy meeting between The First Lady of Cabo Verde and Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej was also held to sign the MoU to underscore their long-term partnership and continue their on-going programs and define strategies to further build healthcare and media capacity in Cabo Verde to address a wide range of social and health issues.

“Merck Foundation has always believed in the importance of building healthcare capacity and has been working for it since 2012. We have so far provided 2280 scholarships for doctors from 52 countries in 44 underserved medical specialties. We will soon be enrolling more doctors from Cabo Verde in various medical specialties in partnership with the First Lady and Ministry of Health of Cabo Verde,” added Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej.

Merck Foundation together with the office of The First Lady of Cabo Verde has also conducted 2 editions of Online Health Media Training to emphasize on the critical role of media in addressing critical social and health issues.

Merck Foundation also announced the Call for applications for their 8 important awards in partnership with The First Lady of Cabo Verde for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.

Moreover, in partnership with The First Lady of Cabo Verde, Merck Foundation has also launched seven children’s storybooks, “More Than a Mother”, “Educating Linda”, “Jackline’s Rescue”, “Not Who You Are”, “Ride into the Future” and “Sugar Free Jude”, and “Mark’s Pressure”. The storybooks launched in Portuguese language, address various social and health issues like breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education, stopping GBV, diabetes and hypertension awareness.