Merck Foundation has announced the winners of ‘Stay at Home’ Media Recognition Awards in partnership with Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s First Lady, and Nigeria’s Dr. Aisha Buhari.
The theme of the awards was ‘Raising Awareness on how to Stay Safe and Keep Physically and Mentally Healthy during Coronavirus Lockdown’ with the aim to separate facts from myths and misconceptions.
Dr. Rasha Kelej, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Foundation, said, “I am very proud of our winners from Ghana and Nigeria who helped to educate the communities about COVID-19 through their exceptional work by frequently covering this topic in their respective countries. I have always believed that media can play a very important role in sensitizing people about sensitive issues such as the global coronavirus pandemic. Big congratulations to all the winners.”
According to a statement by the organisation, the quality of work received was impressive, therefore, the Merck Foundation Media Awards Committee introduced a second and a third position and selected more than one winner, on some occasions, for each of the four categories from all the regions.
“The valuable contribution from the winners in sensitising their respective communities about COVID-19 has encouraged us to additionally reward them all to become Merck Foundation alumni and provide them with one-year access to online educational training programme called ‘MasterClass.’
“The MasterClass is an immersive online experience and self-paced learning course in English that can be accessed anywhere with the Internet. This is to motivate passionate journalists to continue writing and advocating for social, economic and health issues across their countries,” added Kelej.