Meet Our Advisors

Muhammad Tahir Ali – Monitoring & Evaluation

Muhammad Tahir Ali is a development practitioner with 10 years of experience with academia, policy-oriented research institutes, and international donor agencies at various capacities with a focus on agriculture, livestock, health, and education. Mr. Ali specializes in the domains of both monitoring and evaluation and has aided the establishment of the M&E unit of USAID’s Dairy Project, whereby he also supervised more than 7 provincial and national level surveys including those in militancy affected areas. He articulated and maintained comprehensive monitoring systems and tools to track/measure program implementation processes and accomplishments, conducted program reviews and evaluations as required by project leads, donors, and other stakeholders. Mr. Ali also specializes in Data Management, Data Analysis, Econometric Modeling, Value Chain Analysis, and Social Accountability Tools and is well versed in statistic tools like STATA and SPSS. He has also taught econometrics in renowned universities and delivered STATA training to numerous teams and organizations. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

Huma Chugtai – Gender Specialist

Ms. Huma Chughtai has a professional standing of over twenty-six years as a Lawyer, as an internationally trained Legislative Researcher, as well as a Governance, Law, Human Rights, and Gender Specialist. She has served in various key positions in the public sector and the social development sector. Most of her work in the government has been with the National Assembly of Pakistan where she served in a senior position for over a decade. She is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, assigned to manage the Treaty Implementation Cell (TIC) that coordinates and ensures an institutional mechanism to implement human rights treaties ratified by Pakistan within the government. In the Development Sector, Ms. Chughtai has been working for over a decade in the realm of Legal, Judicial, Parliamentary, Gender, and Police Reforms. Besides, she also supervises the country’s reporting mechanism on international human rights conventions ratified by Pakistan and is assigned to respond to legal opinions on a range of issues sought by various government departments and ministries. Her institutional experiences include the Parliament, the Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights, and the UN agencies like the UNIFEM/UNWomen, UNDP, UNAIDS, and INGOs like GIZ, The Asia Foundation, World Vision, IFES, Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS), and the USAID. In the National Assembly of Pakistan, in addition to heading the Research Section as Director Research, Ms. Chughtai has also served as secretary to five Standing Committees including Women Development & Social Welfare, Health, and the Special Committee of the Parliament on Water Resources. She has constantly provided technical assistance to the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus in the National Assembly of Pakistan since its inception in 2008. Ms. Chughtai holds a Masters in Law from the University of Nottingham, UK.

Dr. Hasan Raza Naqvi – Health, Nutrition & Population

Dr. Hasan Raza Naqvi brings along over two decades of experience as a public health and development specialist, well versed with health programs including project design, management, monitoring and evaluation; strategic information management and planning; and logical framework analysis; organizational development; research, training, and facilitation for both international and local governmental and non-governmental organizations. He has experience in writing sub-agreements for grants funded by USAID adhering to the Mandatory Standard Provisions for Non – US and Non-Governmental recipients. He has provided managerial and technical expertise in the fields of sexual and reproductive health (including all aspects of HIV/AIDS/STI treatment, prevention, and care); health sector including tuberculosis for various organizations including community-based organizations, NGOs, and INGOs. He has provided managerial and technical expertise in health-focused programs including MCH (funded by USAID) encompassing WASH and Nutrition centric components, whereby he provided management and technical oversight to the aforementioned 5-year flagship program. Dr. Naqvi, in recognition of his praiseworthy services for USAID’s programs and projects, was awarded the Special Act Award (2013), Health Group Award (2014), and Meritorious Honor Award (2015). He has contributed significantly towards the attainment of end-goals of respective programs and projects while being associated with them. He has oriented, trained, managed, and supervised teams for USAID, Mercy Corps, Family Health International, Pakistan Anti TB Association, etc. Furthermore, he has developed and holds the working experience of USAID’s SOP’s for sub-agreements and implementing agencies, mandatory standard provisions for non-US and non-governmental recipients, M&E and Tools, strategic behavioral communication strategies, and program activities for USAID-funded projects. Along with Federal Acquisition Certification by USAID, Washington, USA Dr. Naqvi holds a Master’s degree in Public health.

Dr. Nasir Jalil – Education

Dr. Nasir Jalil is an education sector specialist with over 30 years of experience in designing and implementing training in the Social Sciences Research Methodology/Paradigms and Research Methods; Designing and execution of Evaluation Research/Survey Studies, Report Writing in the Education / social sectors, and preparing monitoring and evaluation reports. He has held senior advisory roles employing team leadership and project management skills with substantial experience in school education reforms especially teacher’s education and training. His vast practice is inclusive of national and international endeavors in implementing the Education/Social Sector reform projects in conflict / post-conflict areas and multi-cultural settings focusing on Education Reforms, Teacher training, EMIS, Skills Development, and Public Financial Management mostly funded by international funding agencies such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union, etc. Dr. Jalil is highly skilled in designing and executing research in the areas of M&E, Survey Studies, Impact Evaluation (theory of change, results-chain analysis) in Education/Social sectors, and preparing reports. He has designed and implemented programs for capacity need assessment and capacity building of Government officials covering the areas that non-exhaustive include M&E, Management Information System (MIS), Database Management, Teacher Training, Educational Planning, and Education Management, Data analyses, Log Frame Analysis (LFA), Managing for Development Results, Organizational Performance Management; Designing, development, and implementation of Social Sector and Education sector projects and programs. He holds substantial consulting experience (Specialist and Expert level) in implementing Education/Social Sector reform projects /programs involving formulation of policy, Plan of Action plan, Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, Theory of Change (in local and international settings) funded by donors such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, EU, USAID, and SIDA. Dr. Jalil holds a Doctorate of Education from Harvard University with a specialization in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy.

Imad Memon – Technology, Media & Telecom

With 30 years of experience in Telecommunications & Information Technology, Mr. Memon is actively involved in global organizations like International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Asia Pacific Tele community (APT), and South Asian Telecom Regulators Council (SATRC) playing his part in connecting the world. He has led Pakistani delegations to many international conferences. Alongside global operators from the USA, UK, Australia, and Pakistan, he has delivered promising results in planning, strategy, and Network optimization. He also specializes in crafting regulatory policy and designed pragmatic strategies to address the critical challenges of deploying the first 4.5G LTE fixed wireless network in Pakistan while formulating the planning and optimization guidelines. He has a keen eye for identifying opportunities to monetize broadband and has recently implemented a 5G test framework and regulated the provision of Telecom services through a licensing framework in Pakistan. His recent engagement as Director-General in Pakistan Telecommunications Authority recognizes him as a thought leader in the future evolution of the national and international Telecom Industry. Mr. Memon holds a Master’s in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA along with a post-graduate certificate in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley, CA, USA.

Muhammad Ali Afzal – Energy Specialist

Mr. Muhammad Ali Afzal has a wide-ranging exposure and experience in Project Development, Construction, Operations, and Maintenance of Power Plants. He is an expert in developing Power Projects that include skills of performing Feasibility studies, Energy Modelling, Resource Assessments, Energy Yield Estimations, Tariff Modelling, and Policy implications. He has sound knowledge and understanding of local Policies and Regulations concerned with Power Projects and has closely worked with major stakeholders in Power Sector like PPIB, AEDB, NEPRA, CPPA, PPDB, NTDC, and Energy Department – GoS as well as worked as Independent Engineer at 03 RLNG based Power Plants in Punjab. Mr. Afzal was working in Renewable Resources (Pvt.) Ltd – a renowned Pakistan-based Renewable Energy Advisory and currently he is providing his services for OMS (Pvt.) Ltd – A Multinational Power Consulting Company with active operations in Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Kenya, and Bangladesh. Mr. Afzal holds a Master’s degree in Energy System Engineering from NUST Islamabad, Pakistan.

Marcello Suarez – ICT

Mr. Suarez is an Information Technology and Communications (ICT) Professional with more than twenty years of experience in Management Information Systems (MIS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Advisor, Information Technology Systems & Network Administrator, Systems Development, Database Administrator. Mr. Suarez has been a part of the technical and performance management/ monitoring teams of USAID for various portfolios. His international experience includes Thailand, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Lebanon, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Armenia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States. Mr. Suarez have a Bachelors in Humanities and acquires Microsoft-approved courses, Oracle, Linux systems, etc.

Muhammad Zahid Jamal – DRR & M&E Specialist

Mr. Zahid Jamal is a seasoned development professional with over 18 years of extensive strategic project management experience in areas of Education, Health & Nutrition, Human Rights, Livelihood, Economic Growth, Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation, and Water & Sanitation. He also brings extensive experience in handling and managing census systems and has supervised and reported 3 national-level censuses including the Population Census (1998); Shops Census (2006-2007) and Paint Shop Census (2008-2009). Based on his profound understanding, Mr. Jamal is a subject-matter expert and has also authored a book on “Biostatistics” and various other research papers. He has successfully developed and launched a result-based M&E system for projects about the Planning and Development Commission of Pakistan, UNHCR, World Bank, DFID, and USAID. Some of his remarkable achievements include the strengthening of the M&E System of Aga Khan Development Network-Kashmir Rehabilitation, World Vision-Disaster Relief, and USIAD-PRE STEP. Besides, he has also designed and executed evaluation studies and surveys for MSI, Chemonics, British High Commission, WB, and Education Fund for Sindh, WFP, FAO, Relief International, Care International, and NCHD. During his disaster risk resilience engagements with the nationwide Multi-Year Humanitarian Program (MYHP) and Building Disaster Resilience in Pakistan (BDRP) Program, along with developing a sampling methodology that is representative and considers geographic coverage, the value of the investment, perceived level of risk, and phases of delivery, he has contributed significantly in leading roles towards the assessments of WASH, DRR, Shelter, and FSL, through M&E, instrument development, inception, reporting and analysis, stakeholder management, and community engagement.  

Dr. Waqas Malik – Statistician

Dr. Waqas Malik is a seasoned statistician & data analyst with cross-functional expertise in surveys, census, agriculture, poverty reduction, and education/human capital. He has over 15 years’ experience of working in different federal statistical organizations and projects implemented in different countries funded by GIZ, UNFPA, and DFID. His core strengths are fueled by his expertise in and passion for program/project design, project implementation, project evaluation, social quantitative and qualitative research, and analysis. As for Dr. Malik’s notable assignments and projects, he has served as a Survey/Census Specialist in GIZ-funded and PBS-implemented Population and Housing Census in Pakistan in 2017, Survey & GIS Specialist in WB-funded and ADB-implemented TPMA for KP/FATA/Balochistan Multi-Donor Trust Fund (Survey of Financial Behaviors) in 2018, and Advisor-Research Design & Analysis in MicroSave Consulting -funded and Govt. of Indonesia -implemented Social Assistance Program in 2019. Mr. Malik holds a Doctorate in Statistics from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany.

Muhammad Wasif Bashir Babar – WASH Expert

Mr. Muhammad Wasif Bashir Babar is a seasoned professional with extensive research experience in the domains of WASH and Nutrition, where he has played crucial roles in educating and training various groups as well as developing intervention plans, reports, and analyses of projects. During his career, Mr. Babar has developed strong linkages at the private and governmental level in relevant realms, in addition to evolving his expertise in WASH and Nutrition domains predominantly in the Sindh province of Pakistan. He has written research publications such as ‘Democratic Policy of Civil Society in Risk Management for Universal Access of Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Pakistan’ and ‘Drinking Water Scarcity in Rural Communities of Salt Mines Region of Pakistan and Its Influence on Socio-Economic Status of Local Deprived People’. Moreover, his researches and publications have gotten international recognition in Spain, Scotland, and Vietnam, among other countries. Mr. Babar holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Development from COMSATS University.