Staff

Manzoor Hasan

Manzoor Hasan
Director

Manzoor Hasan received his Bachelors Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and was then called to the English Bar from the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. He practiced civil and commercial law in England and Bangladesh. Prior to commencing his legal practice, Mr Hasan was a researcher with BRAC and published The Net: Power Structure in Ten Villages (Dhaka, 1980).

In the United Kingdom Mr Hasan was involved in the voluntary sector. He was the founding Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (1996 to 2003) and then the Regional Director (Asia-Pacific) of Transparency International in Berlin. Mr Hasan was awarded the Officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for his work on transparency.

In 2004 Mr. Hasan re-joined BRAC as its Deputy Executive Director. For BRAC University, he was instrumental in putting together a Masters Degree programme in Governance & Development. In 2005, Mr Hasan co-authored the United Nations Development Programme Beyond Hartals Towards Democratic Dialogue in Bangladesh (2005) published by UNDP Bangladesh. He has been an active member of civil society in Bangladesh for over two decades. Mr Hasan is now the Director of the Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University.

Rizwan Khair

Rizwan Khair, PhD
Academic Coordinator

Rizwan Khair has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Dhaka and a MA in Development Studies with a specialisation in ‘Public Policy and Administration’ from the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, The Netherlands. He did his PhD in Public Policy from University of New England, Australia.

He belongs to the Bangladesh Civil Service and joined IGS on lien from the Government of Bangladesh. On entry to the Bangladesh Civil Service, he served both at the field level administration and, at the central level, Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance. Prior to joining IGS, Dr Khair was Director of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC).

He also served on the editorial board of the Bangladesh Journal of Public Administration. His areas of research interest and writings include public policy, public sector management, public sector reforms, human resources management, and GO-NGO relations.

Dr. Gopakumar K. Thampi
Chief Operating Officer

Gopakumar holds a doctorate in Entrepreneurial Studies from University of Kerala, India and post graduate qualifications in Economics and Journalism & Mass Communication. He is also an alumnus of the European Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution based in Austria, having completed an Advanced Certificate Course on Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Developing concepts and approaches to strengthen accountability of institutions in the governance and development sectors constitute the core of Gopakumar’s professional experience. A large part of this work is carried through innovative research, applications of participatory monitoring systems and public advocacy tools in South Asia, Africa, East and Central Asia and Eastern Europe. In recent times, he has provided technical advice and support to the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank Group, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, USAID, the Department for International Development (DfID), UK and the Water & Sanitation Program. Gopakumar was a former Head of the Asia Desk at the Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of “Building Partnerships for Development (BPD)”, a development innovators network based in London and a Founder and the current President of IT for Change, a non profit organization based in Bangalore. He is an also an Institutional Mentor to the Jananeethi Human Rights Institute, India. Till July 31, 2009 Gopakumar was the Director of Public Affairs Centre, a non profit civil society organization based in Bangalore; he was also the Executive Director of Public Affairs Foundation from it’s inception in May 2003 till June 2009.

At present, Gopakumar heads the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, South Asia Region and the Global Partnership Fund on Social Accountability, based at the Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, Dhaka.

Dr. Elvira Graner
Research Fellow

Dr. Elvira Graner has been based at the South Asia Institute (SAI) at Heidelberg University/Germany from 1995 onwards. During this period she obtained a post-doc degree (habilitation) on "Institutional conflicts of carpet manufacturing in Nepal" (2008). Earlier on, she completed a Ph.D. in Geography from Freiburg University/Germany based on her research on "The Political Ecology of Community Forestry in Nepal" (1996).

Her academic research in South Asia also includes studies on natural disaster management and international labour migration. More recently, her focus is on governance issues in regard to meeting the MDGs. These studies focus on sector analyses for health and education in India and Nepal and include social analyses as well as regional mappings. Future research will provide similar analyses for Bangladesh.

Teaching at Heidelberg comprises of a broad spectrum of regional courses on South Asia, some of these in form of field classes in the region (Nepal and India). While heading the SAI's Nepal Office she designed and taught a course of "M.A. Support Scheme" to students from social sciences based at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.

Mohammad Jahirul Quayum
Senior Programme Manager


Mohammad Jahirul Quayum has joined IGS on lien from the National Board of Revenue of Bangladesh Government, where he last looked after the ‘Customs Reforms’ desk and was a part of the project management team of Modernization and Automation Project (MAP). He graduated in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1996 and went back to his alma mater in 2007 to complete an MSc in Development Management on a World Bank scholarship.

Before joining Bangladesh Civil Service (Customs & VAT) he worked in Standard Chartered Bank, American Express Bank, Democracywatch and in a Columbia University project on arsenic poisoning.

 

 Nafisa Hussain

Nafisa Hussain
Executive Officer

Nafisa Hussain obtained MBA in HR from Mahatma Gandhi University, India and BSc. (Honors) in Computing from Portsmouth University, UK. Prior to joining the Institute, she lived in U.A.E. for 23 years and worked there with various reputed organizations. She has experience in the field of HR, IT & Admin. At the Institute, she is assisting the Director and involved in HR related activities.

Mohammed Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan

Mohammed Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan
Manager (Finance & Accounts)

Mohammad Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan holds an MBA in Finance from BRAC University and M.Com (Accounting) from Govt. Titumir College. He is responsible for maintaining accounts, liaising with BRAC and BRAC University and preparing budgets. Prior to joining the Institute, he worked as an Executive, Finance & Accounts Department for Passion Jeans Ltd and as a Teaching Assistant of BRAC University. He also holds a Diploma in Computer Software Engineering. He was a member of with Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC).

Mridha Fuhad Ahmed
Training Manager

Mridha Fuhad Ahmed obtained his MBA Degree in Marketing and Masters Degree in Management from National University, Bangladesh. He did his Bachelors Degree in Commerce from the University of Kolkata, India. He also completed a Diploma in Marketing Management and another Diploma in Computer Science & Technology from AIES, India and Ministry of Education, Bangladesh respectively. Mr. Ahmed also achieved his PGDHRHM (Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource and Hospitality Management) from BiMS (Bangladesh Institute of Management Studies).

Prior to joining the Institute of Governance Studies, he performed as an Asst. Manager (HR & Admin) at S@ifur’s University College. Before that Mr. Ahmed worked as a Professional Trainer & Training Center In-charge at BRAC International. He attended and conducted many training program at the local and international level.

Mr. Ahmed has joined IGS as a Training Manager under The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Project. His major responsibilities are training planning, Operating training management, communicating with potential participants and organization; follow up, reporting and facilitating session.

He is life member of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and member of Association of Tourism and Hospitality Executives Ltd. England. He has keen interest to learn many languages. At present pursuing LL.B degree under National University, Bangladesh.

Md Nahid Waliul

Md Nahid Waliul
Programme Officer (Administration)

Nahid Waliul holds an LLB Honours degree (Bachelor of Laws) from the University of London. Previously, he worked as a Sales Adviser of British Gas Plc, UK and as a Deputy Manager of Ryman Ltd, Kensington High St, London. At Institute Of Governance Studies, Waliul is working as Administrative Officer. His key responsibilities include: maintaining inventory data, material requisition, procurement- quotation collection, work order, and also to ensure smooth and timely logistic support.

Md Nahid Waliul

Umme Salma
Administrative Assistant

Umme Salma completed BSS (Hons) and MSS in Political Science from the University of Dhaka. She also completed a special course on PGDPM (Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management) from BIM (Bangladesh Institut of Management).Before Joining IGS she worked with CARE Bangladesh as an ‘Administrative Support Officer’ and before that she also worked with Plan International Bangladesh as an ‘Administration Officer’.

Ekram Hossain

 

Ekram Hossain
Project Officer

Ekram Hossain received his BSS (Hons) and Masters Degree in Sociology from the University of Chittagong. He joined IGS with its National Integrity Strategy (NIS) for Bangladesh project in January 2008 as Project Officer. Before joining IGS, he worked with a number of World Bank research projects and ‘Bangladesh First – Bangladesh 2025’, a collaborative study initiated by a group of concerned citizens led by eminent Lawyer Dr. Kamal Hossain. He also worked with Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) for 6 years from its inception and was mainly responsible for formation and subsequent functioning of its Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs). Prior to that, he worked with a number of human rights organizations including Co-ordinating Council for Human Rights in Bangladesh (CCHRB), Steps towards Development, and Democracywatch. He started his career as a journalist and also worked with Chittagong Radio.

A number of his news reports were included in the book “Ekhono Gelona Adhar -- Bangladesh Press Response to 1992 Communalism”, Edited by Prof. Shafi Ahmed and Ms. Purobi Basu, Published by Shahitya Shamabay, Dhaka, 1993.

Nuzhat Jabin

 

Nuzhat Jabin
Project Associate

Nuzhat Jabin holds a Masters Degree in International Development and Environmental Analysis from Monash University, Australia. Her Bachelor Degree was in Environment Management from Independent University, Bangladesh. She worked at the IUCN – The world conservation union. At the Institute she is coordinating the overall management of the Professional Certificate Programme on Environmental Governance under the Building Environmental Governance Capacity in Bangladesh. She is also closely involved with the Affiliated Network on Social Accountability South Asia housed at the Institute.

Munyema Hasan

 

Munyema Hasan
Research Associate

Munyema Hasan has a Masters degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelors degree in Economics and Political Science from the American University in Cairo. Prior to joining the IGS, she worked for Action Against Hunger and the World Bank. Her research interests are in the areas of Gender, Education, Humanitarian work and Health. She is currently involved with the Affiliated Network on Social Accountability (ANSA) project.

 

Sameera Huque
Communications and Outreach Officer

Affiliated Networks for Social Accountability - South Asia Region (ANSA-SAR)

Sameera Huque has worked in the media in Bangladesh in various capacities since 1998. She received her BA in Photojournalism from Pathshala – South Asian Institute of Photography, Dhaka, in 2001, and MA in Professional Writing from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, in 2009. From 1998 to 2005 she was associated with Drik Picture Library, Dhaka. She has worked as a photojournalist in the Netherlands (1999), and Norway (2002-03), and was an Assistant Photo Editor at The Daily Star in Dhaka (2003-04).

She also taught Photo Editing at Pathshala – South Asian Institute of Photography, in Dhaka (2003-05). Sameera has experience working as scriptwriter, videographer and co-director of various digital documentary video productions since 2001, with a wide range of clients, such as CIDA, Bangladesh Silk Foundation – The World Bank, DHL – The Daily Star Bangladesh Business Awards, Steps Towards Development, Maersk Bangladesh, BBC Earth
Report etc. She is working with ANSA-SAR at IGS since March 2010.

Nermeen Shams

 

Nermeen Shams
Research Associate

Nermeen Shams holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from North South University, Dhaka and a Master's Degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School in Tufts University, Massachusetts. She joined IGS with four years of research experience at the World Bank's Dhaka office, where she worked as Research Analyst in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management unit. At the Institute, she is involved in a study on health sector governance, analyzing in particular the health policy making environment.

Syeda Salina Aziz

 

Syeda Salina Aziz
Research Associate

Syeda Salina Aziz has joined IGS as a Research Associate in October 2008. Her background is Economics. After completing bachelors from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, she did her MS with a specialization in Development Economics from North South University, Dhaka. She has completed her second masters from University of Guelph, Toronto Canada.

Before joining IGS, she worked in a national NGO, the Innovators. She has also worked in a project ‘Development and testing of an effective insurance market to alleviate flood risk vulnerability and poverty in Bangladesh’ funded by Dutch Ministry under Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management (PREM) program. Though Development economics and Environmental economics are her core areas of interest, the experience in IGS also induces her to expand the focus on Public Economics. At the Institute, she is mainly involved with the State of Governance Project. Besides this, she worked on the report Health Governance in Bangladesh and the UNDP project on Governance reform prioritization in Bangladesh.

Mohammad Sirajul Islam

 

Mohammad Sirajul Islam
Research Associate

Mohammad Sirajul Islam joined the Institute in September 2008 as Research Assistant. He has been working at IGS on Institutions of Accountability, reforms sustainability, civil service training program on Private Sector Development, strengthening parliamentary capacity building, and State of Governance Report. He did his MSS and BSS (Hons.) on Public Administration from the University of Dhaka and obtained first classes in both. His interested areas of work are governance and democracy, public accountability, and capacity building in public sector. An article on Personnel Management of Primary Education in Bangladesh: A study on Directorate of Primary Education (DPE)- Head Office has recently been published in Lok Proshason Samoeeky (Quarterly Journal of Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre), Vol. 37, December 2005 (Actual Time of Publication: May 2009).

Md. Harun-Or-Rashid

 

Md. Harun-Or-Rashid
Research Associate

Md. Harun-Or-Rashid completed his Masters Degree in 2008 in Political Science from the University of Dhaka. Prior to joining the Institute, he worked as a Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Assistant under Social Investment Program Project (SIPP) of World Bank, implemented by the Social Development Foundation, Bangladesh. His research interests are governance, political culture, local government, ethnic conflict and management, small state security, poverty alleviation strategy etc. At the Institute he is involved with research on the State of Governance in Bangladesh Report. Besides this, he worked on preparing ‘Benchmark for Democratic Legislature-Bangladesh Perspective’ Report and the UNDP project on Governance reform prioritization in Bangladesh.

Mohammad Atique Rahman

 

Mohammad Atique Rahman
Research Associate

Mohammad Atique Rahman completed his Masters Degree in 2008 in the department of International Relations from the University of Dhaka. His research interests are poverty and development issue, non-traditional and human security, governance and corruption, public policy, political violence and legitimacy crisis of the governance and human rights. Prior to joining the Institute, he has been worked with Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) and Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI).  At the Institute he is involved with the research on State of Governance in Bangladesh and Health Governance in Bangladesh. He is involved with the KDI-IGS-BEI joint Civil Service Training Programme for Private Sector Development and Professional Certificate Training Programme on Environmental Governance. Mr. Rahman participated in the "Study Circle Facilitation Training Programme" conducted by National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Fatema Samina Yasmin

 

Fatema Samina Yasmin
Project Assistant

Fatema Samina Yasmin completed her M.S.S and B.S.S (Honours) in Political Science from the University of Dhaka. She previously worked at UNDP Bangladesh as a Young Professional Officer in Local Governance Cluster. She has a vast experience of working with the several leading NGOs like Article -19 Bangladesh, Democracywatch etc in Bangladesh. At IGS, she has joined as a Project Assistant to support the team to implement UNCAC in Bangladesh.

Rubayet Hamid
Research Assistant


Rubayet Hamid has joined IGS from August 2009 as the research assistant. She has completed her Bachelors degree in Economics from Queen Mary College, University Of London.  Before joining IGS, she has done an internship with Grameen Bank and worked as a rapporteur for Action Aid Bangladesh. Currently she is working in the EKN project for Private Sector Development and also on ‘State of Cities’ report.

 

Narayan Chandra Das

 

Narayan Chandra Das
Programme Assistant (Finance)

Narayan Chandra Das holds Chartered Accountancy Course Completion (CACC) with Shahadat Hossain & Co. Chartered Accountants under The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and M.Com (Accounting) from Dhaka College under National University. He is responsible to prepare financial statements, budgets, and maintain accounts related documents. Prior to joining the Institute, he worked as a Sr. Executive, Finance & Accounts Department in Sagufta N M Housing Ltd. He also attended various training sessions.

Chandan Bikash Nath

 

Chandan Bikash Nath
IT Officer

Chandan Bikash Nath Studying Masters of Business Administration (MBA/Management Information System)  from the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka. He holds a BSS in Social Science from National University, Dhaka. He obtained a Graduate level degree (ADSE) in Computer Science from APTECH, India. Recently, he obtained CNAP Graduate degree (CCNA) on Networking from Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology (AUST), Dhaka. He worked at the ACT (an IT enabled service provider company) as a Senior Engineer.

 

Md. Khorshed Alom
Assistant Departmental Co-ordination Officer (Asst. DCO)

Md. Khorshed Alom completed his Diploma in Computer Engineering from Rangpur Polytechnic Institute, Rangpur under Bangladesh Technical Education Board, Dhaka. Prior to joining IGS he worked as a Graphic Designer in a studio and in the Hardware Section of Delta Systems Limited in Dhaka as IT Personnel. Mr. Khorshed joined IGS, BRAC University in January 2009. He is involved in co-ordination of different academic and training programmes including MA in Governance and Development (MAGD), and documentation, administrative support services, library, logistics, data entry and other relevant activities. Currently, he is doing his Bachelor degree in Social Sciences with Govt. Titumir College, Dhaka under National University.

Nishi Somapti Jangcham
Secretary

Nishi Somapti Jangcham completed Bachelor of Social Science (BSS) degree from the National University. Before joining IGS she worked with USC Canada Bangladesh as a Program Assistant from July 2006 to July 2010.

 

Rigan Chakma
Intern

Rigan has finished his honourse and masters in International Relations from University of Dhaka. He joined in IGS as an Intern under the Governance and Anti-Corruption Plan of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands (EKN). Before joining IGS he worked in Young Researchers’ Forum as a Student Associate it is a student wing of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU). He had experience of a few field work as a research assistant Livelihood of Rohingya Refugee in Teknaf main shift camp, Women street worker of Dhaka city, an assessment of present rural society in Tangail, Comilla, Noyakali, Borura, LGSP project in Badalgasi and Mahadebpur of Noyagan district.        


Nasrin Akhter Jesica

 

Nasrin Akhter Jesica
Front Desk Officer

Nasrin Akhter Jesica completed her Bachelor of Social Science in Economics from National University. Presently she is studying Masters in Social Science in Economics in National University. At the Institute, she is in charge of the Front Desk.

Associated with the Institute

Larry Taman

 

Larry Taman
Research Fellow

Larry Taman is a senior lawyer and public servant with extensive experience in rule of law and justice sector reforms serving in a number of countries throughout the world. He was the civil service head of a large justice ministry (Ontario, Canada), responsible for 7000 staff in criminal prosecutions, civil legal advice, legislative drafting, justice policy, court administration and access to justice (including legal aid, public trusteeship and the legal protection of children and vulnerable people).

In 2004, working for the UNDP and the Minister of Justice in Afghanistan, he was the principle author of Justice for All, a roadmap for justice reform and legal sector development assistance in that country. He has provided assistance internationally in legal education and judicial training (Albania, Mongolia), anti-corruption (Bangladesh), and capacity development (Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Akhlaque

Akhlaque Haque, PhD
Research Fellow

Akhlaque Haque is an Associate Professor of Government and Director of Graduate Studies in Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. Dr. Haque is an established scholar in public administration and policy specific to information management applications in government. He received his PhD (Urban and Public Affairs) from Cleveland State University, Ohio, USA.

He has published widely in the area of geographic information systems (GIS) and government and his expertise has been recognized in public administration and public policy mainstream literature. He served in the past as an editorial Board member of the Public Administration Review – the premier journal in the field of public administration; and served in the US National Council for Accreditation of Masters Degree of Public Administration Programs (NASPAA). Dr Haque has provided a US Congressional Briefing on GIS and local government policy at a Congressional briefing in the United States.

 

Beata Beata Czajkowska, PhD
Programme Advisor

Beata Czajkowska holds a PhD in political science from the University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland, USA) and Bachelors Degree from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ, USA). Before coming to Bangladesh, she was a Senior Research Analyst at the Office of Democracy and Governance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, DC and worked as a consultant for UNDP in Serbia and Montenegro.

Dr Czajkowska joined the Institute in February 2006 as a Visiting Associate Professor. Her primary responsibilities were the development and management of research programmes and The State of Governance in Bangladesh reports. She also advised on programme design and institutional development of the Institute.
 

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