By Essa Bah

Tuesday 8th of March is International women’s, the day is geared towards celebrating women’s achievements, raise awareness against discrimination and to take solid steps for equality.

Kairaba News Network , looks at how Merck Foundation celebrates the day.

Merck Foundation was established in 2012 by Dr. Rasha Kalej and it is now one of the leading advocates for women’s rights and support.

The foundation helps in supporting women to reach their potential, and helping to empower women.

In the build up to International women’s day, CEO of Merck Foundation outlined some of the achievements registered since inception .
Dr. Kalej in that exclusive interview said Merck Foundation has provided 550 scholarships out of a total 1200 to female doctors, she adds that , these are scholarship of one-year Diploma and two-year degree in underserved and critical specialties, such as respiratory care, Endocrinology, fertility among others.
‘’ I also started the initiative to train media’’. She said ‘’ we have so far trained over 2000 media representatives from more than 35 countries, to raise community awareness and break the infertility stigma around women and support girls Education and address other social issues related to women’s empowerment’’.
At the end of her interview Dr. Rasha Kalej urged every woman to believe in herself and be confident at every step of their lives. she however, pleaded to every woman to give support to fellow women for when she succeeds.
International Women’s Day is gaining popular and celebrated all around the globe, Gloria Steinem a renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained ‘’ The story of Women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.’’
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating Women’s equality.
International Women’s Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.