Wrapping up 2019 we asked our partners and staff to reflect on their highlights from the year's work. Here is our resulting top ten list for 2019. Many thanks go out to all who contributed. Please feel free to contact us to learn more about our work and opportunities to work with us.
1. The hera Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA)
Our annual EGA is a chance for the collective group to meet face to face, to share, to learn and to plan for the future. This year had an extra charge with a number of rejuvenation strategies beginning to take hold and a significant work portfolio for 2020 going forward.
2. Health Advisory Service 2.0
In May 2019, a consortium led by hera and including AEDES, Alter and OPM, operating as a Health Advisory Service (HAS), was awarded a three-year contract to support the Health Team of the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO). Learn more here >
3. DFID Independent Monitoring and Process Evaluation Regional Framework Agreement
hera was the only Small and Medium Size Enterprise firm to be awarded an IMPERFA. This has been a multi-year process which was great to see realized with contract awards for four lots in the Spring of 2019.
4. Ongoing technical support to the EAC Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunizations and Health Supply Chain Management (RCE-VIHSCM)
hera provides ongoing technical support to the RCE-VIHSCM under the direction of a regional project officer. We were delighted to hear that the centre received a second phase of funding in 2019.
5. External Evaluation of the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) 2013-2017
The HRP is the oldest co-sponsored UN programme currently housed at WHO within the Department of Reproductive Health and Research. It is funded from a special Trust Fund and governed by the Policy and Coordination Committee (PCC) with representation of the co-sponsoring agencies, the donor governments, IPPF, and governments of programme countries selected by the WHO Regional Committees. HRP is a widely recognised global leader in research on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) with a very wide scope of activities in research, research coordination, evidence synthesis and consensus-building, development of guidelines, norms and standards, translation of evidence into policies and programmes, and strengthening the capacity for SRHR research in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Read more here >
6. Global Review of indicator SDG 5.6.1. for the UNPFA
In 2018, the UNFPA commenced an analysis of available data to explore factors determining the results of the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 5.6.1 and how this indicator relates to desirable reproductive health and gender equality outcomes. The Indicator 5.6.1 looks at the proportion of married women aged 15–49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care. Read more here >
7. The Mid-Term Review of the third Country Strategic Paper (CSP III) between the Government of Flanders (GoF) and the Government of Mozambique (GoM)Mozambique
This project stuck out not only because we have had a significant amount of past experience in Mozambique and working with the GoF but also because of the two cyclones Idai and Kenneth that struck Mozambique in 2019. The most recent disasters have only contributed to an already difficult situation.
8. DFID Kenya Maternal and Neonatal Health evaluation
DFID’s original programme to Reduce Maternal and Neonatal Death in Kenya was a £75.3 million programme (the MNH Programme) over five-years (2013-2018) that aimed to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. After programme restructuring in 2017, the budget was reduced to £60.6m. hera was approached to undertake the evaluation (Component 4) of the MNH Programme. This is the summative evaluation of the remaining elements of the programme, including:
9. The right to poverty
This is a unique one on our list. In July 2019 hera partner Marc Revillion was invited to a conference in Innsbruck (COV&R, Violence and Religion) to make a presentation based on an article he wrote in a Belgian newspaper. This article addressed the right to poverty. His presentation gained a bit of a buzz at hera and speaks to some of the deep paradoxes of our work in health and development. Please contact us if you would like to know more.
10. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)
We secured three RUTF supply chain evaluations projects for UNICEF in Sudan, Madagascar and Uganda this year. We think it is an exciting track record for an emerging area of focus and expertise.
Wishing you all the best for 2020.
