Six New Global Grants Reinforce Merck’s Commitment to Maternal Health

March 16, 2026 – Merck has announced the latest recipients of its Global Grants program, as part of Merck for Mothers, the company’s global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. Maternal mortality persists as a reality for too many women, and Merck for Mother’s Global Grants are designed to extend access to quality maternal health care around the world by helping address the unique needs of women in local communities.

The six new grantees will support underserved communities in Ireland, Kazakhstan, Romania, Tanzania, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. Each grantee has developed customized interventions tailored to their community's unique needs, with a shared goal of improving access to and quality of maternal health care. Each grantee’s work supports Merck’s Access to Health commitment, within which the company has made a public commitment to advancing solutions for people in low- and middle-income countries, as well as underserved populations in high-income countries.

Since 2012, the Merck for Mothers Global Grants program has contributed nearly $50 million to date, supporting over 90 projects focused on reducing maternal mortality – including through disaster response, innovative digital tools, health education and more – across more than 45 countries.

As Merck continues to integrate access to health into its global business – working alongside governments, nonprofits and communities to strengthen health systems, improve outcomes and build more resilient pathways to care worldwide, these grants represent another critical step toward improving the health and well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the months after.

Merck for Mothers Global Grants Recipients:

EEMEA Region:

• UNICEF (Kazakhstan) is working to improve access to high-quality, integrated health services for pregnant women and mothers by strengthening the Universal Progressive Home Visiting system and primary health care practices, while scaling innovative standards, training, tools, and digital platforms to address maternal medical, behavioral, and social risks.
• UNICEF (Turkiye) is improving knowledge and behaviors related to pregnancy and childbirth among women and their partners while strengthening the implementation of maternal, perinatal and infant care standards at the primary health care level in disadvantaged and earthquake-affected regions.
• Pathfinder (Tanzania) is improving access to high-quality maternal health care across 60 facilities in the Morogoro region through strengthened service delivery, referral systems, supervision, data use, and provider–client experience supported by a hub-and-spoke model, digital tools, and government-led engagement.

EUCAN Region:

• UNICEF (Romania) aims to enhance the AMC (Aplicația Medicală Comunitară) digital tool by introducing a dedicated pre- and postnatal care module to support community nurses in pregnancy monitoring, strengthen coordination with family doctors and obstetricians, and improve care for vulnerable pregnant women.
• White Ribbon Alliance (United Kingdom) is expanding the UK’s Free From Harm training, aiming to equip 2,000 maternity care providers to be better able to prevent obstetric violence, strengthen workforce resilience, and improve outcomes for women through trauma-informed, equity-centered care.
• TASC (Ireland) is improving knowledge of and access to maternal health services for ethnic minorities and migrant groups, through the development of training and advocacy for specific populations.

To learn more about each grant recipient and Merck’s ongoing commitment to the company’s Access to Health strategy, read more here