First Lady seeks more partnerships for school feeding, health programmes

First Lady Rachel Ruto has called for extended partnerships from the Merck Foundation, to help with the school feeding programme crisis in Kenya.

 The first lady was speaking on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 11th edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia luminary held in Daresaalam, Tanzania.

Rachel Ruto emphasised the need for children to be in good health to have a successful education.

“We face a major challenge today despite education being a fundamental right, countless children remain locked out of learning opportunities due to poverty, conflict, and other barriers,” Rachel said.

The first lady noted that 46 million children remain out of school across eastern and southern Africa because of the challenges calling for more consideration from the foundation.

“Nutrition is critical in unlocking children’s potential and a healthy meal can be the bridge that enables a child to attend school and concentrate on their education.
I urge the Mark Foundation to consider extending the “More than a Mother” campaign to include specific programmes focused on children’s health and education, particularly in the area of school feeding,” she said.

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She noted that Subsaharan Africa faces one of the world's highest rates of learning poverty, with 9 out of 10 children unable to read at the age of 10.

Rachel stressed the need to invest in foundational education and apply skills to help learners overcome learning poverty.

The first lady lauded one of the programmes ‘More than a Mother’ campaign done in the county in partnership with the foundation that has championed the course of marginalized women by raising awareness, tackling stigma driving change, and fostering empowerment.

Through the programmes, the foundation has provided over 210 scholarships to local doctors in underserved medical specialities in Kenya.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Foundation expressed the organization’s commitment to improving access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions and building healthcare capacity in many critical and underserved medical fields.

“I am proud to share with you all that Merck Foundation has provided more than 2080 scholarships to young doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialities including Diabetes, Endocrinology, Oncology, Cardiovascular, Fertility Care, Embryology, Sexual & Reproductive Medicine, Internal Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Acute Medicine, Critical Care, Pediatric Emergency, Gastroenterology, Rheumatology, Clinical Psychiatry, Urology, Ophthalmology, General Surgery and more,”  said Dr. Kelej.

Dr.Kelej, who is also the President of the "More Than a Mother" Campaign, highlighted the strides made by the foundation, in partnership with African First Ladies and Ministries of Health and Medical Societies, in enhancing healthcare capacity since 2012.

Doctor Frank Stangenberg, chairman of the foundation board of trustees on his part said that the foundation was looking forward to discussing strategies and plans on health care with the different countries.

“We are strongly committed to transforming patients' health state through our scholarship programme, we believe that empowering people will lead to a better future. We also believe that healthcare will transform the lives of individuals and families across developing countries. It significantly contributes to any country's economic and social development,” Stangenberg said.

The two-day training has brought together more than 6000 healthcare providers, policymakers, and media to advance healthcare capacity and awareness in 44 critical and underserved medical specialities.