Abhirup Bhunia

➨ 11 years of professional experience in the development sector, with core functional expertise in monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) across sectors including field missions in 9 countries in Asia, Africa. Leading MEL mandates for large regional or global programs as well as country programs/portfolios. Also niche expertise in CLA - having twice served as CLA Specialist (for USAID IPOP and USAID APP) ➨ Contracted by large consulting firms such as DAI, Palladium, DT Global, USAID small business contractors such as Integra and IDG LLC, and niche & reputed MEL firms (e.g., Social Impact Inc) on donor funded projects, or directly by donor-embedded MEL units such as UNDP, DEval (BMZ), and ILO, as well as by large think-tanks such as Chatham House (on a GAC-funded project) and prestigious CSOs (e.g., Oxfam Novib as an ERG member). ➨ Sector experience includes digital/tech/ICT4dev, financial inclusion, governance and service delivery, global goods, urban development, economic growth, PSD, trade, MSME development, WASH, gender, women economic empowerment (WEE), infrastructure, etc.. ➨ MEL assignments for various donor agencies (USAID, DFID/FCDO, DFAT, World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UNCDF, BMZ, EU, IFAD, etc.), and command excellent understanding of global standards and best practices in M&E (e.g. OECD DAC criteria, UNEG evaluation norms, DCED standards for monitoring progress in private sector development, SMART Indicators, etc.). Full proficiency in GESI/GEDSI integrated MEL. ➨ MEL experience covering full policy cycle- planning, design, implementation, evaluation and ex-post phases- M&E systems, concurrent monitoring, and mid-term and end-term program, portfolio, and strategy evaluations. ➨ Experience of using mixed methods (e.g. quasi-experimental designs; theory based and utilisation focused evaluations, and MEL for adaptive management). ➨ Published in peer-reviewed journals, wrote white papers, UN strategy documents, highly-rated evaluation reports, working papers, policy briefs, op-ed pieces, blogs, etc. ➨ Presented or served as panelist at Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA), African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) in Colombo and Kigali respectively. Invited by American Evaluation Association (AEA) for its annual conference in 2022.