Abdul Hai Sofizada is a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank's Education & Skills Global Practice, based in the Ethiopia, Eastern and Southern Africa Region.
Previously, Abdul Hai served as a Senior Education Specialist in the South Asia Region, where he worked across the World Bank's education portfolios in Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh — managing investments exceeding $1 billion across basic education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and higher education. In that capacity, he pioneered regional programmatic approaches and led high-impact policy dialogue with governments and key development partners.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Abdul Hai served in a range of senior roles across international organizations and national governments, including as Program Coordinator for UNESCO's CapEFA project in Afghanistan, Policy Advisor at Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education, and Senior Advisor and Liaison Officer at UNHCR.
Mr. Sofizada brings over 25 years of experience in international development, with deep expertise in education sector reform, program design, portfolio management, resilience, gender equality, and programming in fragile and conflict-affected settings. He holds an MSc in Comparative and International Education from the University of Oxford and an MA in Post-War Recovery Studies from the University of York in the UK.