M. Abul Kalam Azad is a Senior Economist with the Poverty and Equity GP. Azad is a development professional with 20 years of experience in different sectors and countries across three regions: West Africa, South Asia, and North America. Over the years, he has worked with academic and research institutes, and multilateral and grassroots level organizations. He has worked extensively on data landscape and statistics systems, analytics, impact evaluations, monitoring and evaluation systems, policy advocacy and program management. He also has substantial experience in data collection from conflict affected states and in the use of evidence to inform policies.
Prior to joining the World Bank, he served as the Program Director of the University of Michigan affiliated A. Scott Foundation, Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan, Country Director of the Michigan International Development in Bangladesh and researcher at the Human Development Research Center in Bangladesh.
Azad holds master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, North South University and Aligarh Muslim University in International Public Policy, Development Studies and English Literature with foci on international development policy, economics of development, and Shakespearean literature. Azad is currently pursuing a part-time PhD in Development Economics and International Development Policy from the University of Göttingen in Germany.