Dr. Rasha Kelej
The philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, Merck Foundation, has announced the winners of “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards for Ghana in partnership with the First Lady, Mrs. Rebbeca Akufo-Addo.
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.
Albert Futukpor and Lydia Kukua Asamoah both from the Ghana News Agency (GNA) took the first and second positions for the online category wining $500 and $300 respectively.
New Times Corporation’s Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman from The Spectator was the winner for the print category and she will be receiving $500 as her prize.
Grace Hammoah Asare, Nana Yaw Gyimah Mensah and Wendy Laryea all from Media General, TV3, took the first, second and third positions for the multimedia category and will be receiving $500, $300 and $300 as their prizes.
CEO of Merck Foundation Dr. Rasha Kelej, said the quality of work received was impressive, therefore, the Merck Foundation Media Awards Committee has 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.
“I am very proud of our winners from Ghana 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 Coronavirus global pandemic. Big congratulations to all the winners,” she said.
She said because of the valuable contribution from the winners in sensitizing their respective communities about Covid-19 they will also be admitted to become Merck Foundation Alumni where they will be provided with one-year access to online educational training program 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 Dr. Rasha Kelej.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri