About us
hera is an international multidisciplinary team of highly skilled professionals bringing together a broad spectrum of expertise in health and development research, programming, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and policy development.
hera believes in partnership, involving its clients, the public, civil society and private sectors in developing problem-solving and evidence-based strategies.
Active since 1990, hera has contributed to strengthening the health and development sectors in more than 100 countries across the world.
hera is an independent cooperative organisation working with a global network to promote the right to health and development for all.
Our vision
hera envisages a world where every person is able to realise their rights to health and development.
Across all our activities, we are guided by core principles of equity, human rights, gender equality and climate-responsive action, which inform both what we do and how we work.
Our mission
hera works towards fostering the right to health and development, including timely access to appropriate health care and health-promoting services that address the social determinants of health. We do this by:
Providing independent, high-quality advice to governments, civil society organisations and the private sector in policy, systems, financing, logistics, training, technology and research;
Supporting international and national partners in the design, implementation and evaluation of health, development and human rights strategies and programmes;
Contributing to national, regional and global dialogue on sustainable, equitable and efficient approaches to health and development;
Strengthening capacity, ownership and knowledge transfer among stakeholders in all our assignments;
Applying evidence-based, learning-oriented approaches across all our work.
Our approach
We believe that we should leave the world better than we found it. Our commitments are simple: act with integrity, put people first, and protect the planet. We’re holding ourselves to standards that reflect the change we want to see in the world.
Initiatives like the B Corp movement, the UN Global Compact, and the Women’s Empowerment Principles keep us accountable, guide our choices, and connect us to a wider community working for health, equity, and sustainability.
Read more about our commitments here.
Values
hera partners, associates, employees and consultants work together guided by the following values:
Equality and diversity
Partnership for development
Respect for local cultural, political and socio-economic contexts
Quality and technical excellence
Independence
Commitment to positive and sustainable change
Commitments
Values
hera positions itself as a trusted technical partner, providing strategic advice, monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL), and capacity strengthening. We operate across development cooperation and humanitarian contexts, including complex and protracted crisis settings, with a strong focus on relevance, quality and impact.
Our work is partnership-driven and lean by design, enabling us to mobilise the right expertise through our global network and to respond flexibly to evolving needs. We prioritise locally informed approaches and actively contribute to more inclusive and balanced forms of collaboration.
hera focuses its expertise in selected areas where technical excellence, policy relevance and long-term impact align:
Health systems, markets & governance:
Health systems management and governance
Health financing and economics
Private sector engagement in health
Pharmaceuticals and health technologies
Primary health care & nutrition across the life course
Primary health care
Maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health
Immunisation and vaccination
Nutrition
Protection, rights & wellbeing
Sexual and reproductive health and rights
Gender equality and gender-based violence
Mental health and psychosocial support
Right to health and development
Right to health includes both timely access to appropriate health care and related social determinants of health such as:
Access to safe and potable water
Adequate sanitation
Supply of safe food, nutrition and housing
Healthy occupational and environmental conditions (including as a result of climate change)
Access to health-related education and information, including on gender, gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health.
The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all people are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.
Both the right to health and development is to be understood and supported within the local cultural context, taking into account the views of local civil society.
The right to health and development is closely related to and dependent on the realisation of other human rights, including:
The right to food, housing, work, education, and participation
The enjoyment of the benefits of scientific progress and its applications
Non-discrimination
Equality
The prohibition against torture
Privacy
Access to information
The freedoms of association, assembly and movement
hera believes that governments, civil society and individuals should meet their responsibilities as rights holders and duty bearers of the right to health and development.
hera recognises that higher income countries have a duty to support lower income countries towards achieving the right to health and development. Such international cooperation should be based on sovereign equality and mutual respect.