Mustaque Ahmed

I bring significant leadership and management skills and more than 29 years of experience of implementing development projects in Angola, Sudan, Somalia, and Bangladesh. I worked in different international NGOs in different countries in Africa. My areas of expertise include program development; strategic planning; managing change; human resource development and talent management; donor relationship and program implementation. Currently, I am serving as a consultant to World Learning on a USAID supported health decentralization project and Chevron-supported Decentralization and Governance program in Angola. Using a bottom-up approach to build trust and local ownership, I am facilitating dialogue among civil society, local government, and community groups on development priorities, rights and responsibilities, and policy reform.

As the COP of the USAID Municipal Development Program (MDP) in Angola from 2006 – 2012, I led a consortium of three international organizations to build the technical capacity of Municipal Administrations (MAs) to ensure better governance thru developing municipal plans in participatory manners, strengthen engagement with civil society, and provide small grants to civil society and community groups to implement water/sanitation projects, schools, etc . Supported by a team of 45 staff in 5 provinces, I successfully managed relationships with donors, municipalities, international partners, local implementing partners, and Angolan civil society to position MDP as a model for decentralization of local governance. I worked closely with the local media in the dissemination of MDP models vis-à-vis influencing public policies and established program website (www.mdp-angola.org) to share the results of the program. From 2004 – 2006, as Assistant Country Director in CARE in Angola, I provided leadership to the management of two international NGO consortiums, funded by USAID/FFP (MYAP supporting livelihood security ) and DFID (supporting urban governance ), and led the re-orientation of CARE’s programs from emergency to development programming. At the same time, I led a restructuring of the country office to introduce gender and diversity initiatives.

From 2000 – 2004, as Assistant Country Director for Programs in Sudan, I had oversight of the multi-sectoral program portfolio including peace building, economic development, food security, maternal child health, natural disaster response and emergency health. In response to the Darfur crisis, I developed a partnership strategy that built the capacity of Sudanese civil society organizations to assume a lead role in the emergency and local development process. I also served as acting Country Director for extended periods of time.

From 1993 – 2000, I worked in Somalia in various capacities including managing a multi-sectoral program portfolio being implemented by five international NGOs and managing food security programs supported by USAID, the World Food Program and the European Commission. I began my professional career in Bangladesh, where as a senior national staff member, I managed a USAID/FFP-funded $40-million per year integrated food for development project, directly supervised 12 staff at headquarters, and indirectly 200 staff at six sub-offices. I represented CARE in high-level negotiations with the government and donors and managed the response to two natural disasters.

I have a deep appreciation of the value of culture, ethnic diversity, and gender norms from his work in both urban and rural areas throughout Africa and in Bangladesh. I have adapted quickly in various cultural settings, and have used my communication and interpersonal skills effectively to build trust with local communities, negotiate with a variety of stakeholders, and liaise with high-level government officials, NGO, and USAID representatives. I have a master’s degree in Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Bangladesh. I am fluent in English, Portuguese, and Bengali (native language); proficient in Arabic; and have basic skills in Kiswahili.

I hope my candidature for the COP position will be considered. Thank you.

Mustaque Ahmed