Here’s to hera’s next 35 years: A Future in Focus
As hera marks 35 years of working in global health and development, we do so at a moment of profound transition. The global landscape is shifting: politically, economically and environmentally. Health systems are under strain from climate shocks, conflict and displacement. Development financing is increasingly volatile. Hard-won gains in equity and rights face renewed contestation.
In our first two anniversary blogs, we reflected on where we began and the impact we have achieved alongside partners around the world. Now, we look forward.
The question guiding us is simple but urgent: how must hera evolve to meet the realities of today and tomorrow?
Across our recent strategic discussions, several principles consistently emerged, not as new commitments but as deeper clarifications of who we are and where we are heading.
Equity and justice at the centre
Inequity remains the defining challenge of global health.
Mental health services remain scarce in many low-resource settings. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are underfunded and politically contested. Access to affordable medicines remains uneven. Climate change and conflict disproportionately affect those already marginalised.
hera’s future trajectory places historically marginalised communities at the centre of programme design, implementation and evaluation. This means embedding rights-based, inclusive approaches across every portfolio as a foundation.
Equity demands that we address the structural drivers of exclusion: gender inequality, disability discrimination, poverty, governance failures and financing gaps.
Local agency and leadership
Global health reform dialogues increasingly emphasise the importance of local leadership, lived experience and regional accountability. We share that conviction deeply.
Supporting countries and regions to set agendas, make decisions and lead solutions will guide our partnerships moving forward. This includes investing in leadership development to empower policymakers, practitioners and communities to drive change from within. It also means recognising the central role of communities and strong primary health care systems as the foundation of responsive, equitable and sustainable health systems.
Our role is not to prescribe, but to accompany—strengthening national systems, reinforcing primary health care approaches, supporting policy reform and fostering platforms where local voices lead.
Sustainability beyond aid
Development assistance is becoming less predictable. Aid cuts and shifting donor priorities are reshaping the financing landscape. At the same time, climate emergencies and protracted crises are increasing demand.
hera’s strategy recognises that sustainability must go beyond external funding. We will continue to support domestic resource mobilisation, transparent budgeting and sustainable health financing models. Essential medicines, primary health care and preventive services cannot rely on charity-driven distribution. They must be treated as public goods, embedded within accountable national systems.
Strengthening governance structures and policy environments that prioritise health as a human right will be central to this effort.
Innovation and integration
The complexity of today’s challenges demands integrated, cross-sectoral responses.
Climate change is altering disease patterns and threatening food systems. Malnutrition and food insecurity remain core drivers of child mortality. Conflict and displacement strain fragile health infrastructures. Mental health, gender-based violence (GBV), disability and child protection are deeply interconnected.
hera’s future focus is on integration: linking health with climate adaptation, governance reform, humanitarian response, research and social protection.
Our strategic priorities
Crises are becoming more frequent and complex. Worldwide emergencies, conflicts and displacement require adaptable, responsive programming. Humanitarian action should leave systems stronger, not fragmented. hera's work will increasingly align with longer-term health reform goals: strengthening local capacity, reinforcing national systems and building long-term sustainability.
Our work is primarily situated within development cooperation and humanitarian aid. This includes nexus programmes that combine development and humanitarian interventions, particularly in protracted and complex crisis settings. While much of our portfolio focuses on low- and lower-middle-income countries, hera also works in upper-middle- and high-income settings where our expertise, partnership model and ways of working add clear value. In these contexts, we support health sector and other human rights actors and systems, with a focus on governance, coordination, innovation and system performance across public, private and civil society stakeholders.
Building on this positioning, we concentrate our work in a select number of thematic areas, structured across three interconnected portfolios:
Health systems, markets & governance
Focus: How health systems are organised, financed and supplied to deliver sustainable and effective services.We’ll engage with health systems management and governance, health economics / financing, access to medicines, health products and technologies and private sector engagement.
Primary health care & nutrition across the life course
Focus: What essential services and interventions are needed to improve health outcomes across different stages of life, with a strong emphasis on integrated and primary care–oriented approaches.Main thematic areas are primary health care, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (MNCAH), immunisation and vaccination coverage and nutrition. Additional areas of focus are the effect of climate change on health
Protection, rights & wellbeing
Focus: Addressing vulnerability, safeguarding rights and promoting psychosocial wellbeing, particularly for populations at heightened risk of exclusion, violence or harm.This includes sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender equality and gender-based violence (GBV) and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS)
Looking forward
hera at 35 does not feel like we have arrived somewhere. Rather, we feel that it is an ever-evolving commitment to adaptation.
The future of global health will be shaped by how effectively we centre equity, strengthen local leadership, integrate across sectors and build systems that endure beyond aid cycles. It will depend on our collective ability to respond to climate change, political contestation and financing instability without losing sight of rights and justice.
Our path forward is clear: deeper partnerships, sharper focus, and sustained commitment to the communities at the heart of our work.
The challenges are complex. But so too is the collective expertise, leadership and resilience of the communities and partners with whom we work.
The next chapter of hera is not simply about responding to change. It is about helping shape a more just, inclusive and sustainable global health future.