Evaluation • Research • Learning • Strategy

Noor Muhammad
Ansari

Director, Evaluation & Learning | Global Education & International Development

Turning evidence into strategy, stronger institutions and better outcomes.

Senior evaluation, research and learning professional with more than 30 years of international development experience, combining global portfolio leadership with deep expertise in evidence, strategy and institutional strengthening.

Portrait of Noor Muhammad Ansari
Current focus Evaluation, organisational learning, applied research, evidence use and education-system transformation
30+Years in international development
58+Countries in the EAC global portfolio
113Education projects supported through portfolio M&E
50K+Households per large national social-audit cycle
10+Peer-reviewed research publications

Evidence that informs decisions. Learning that strengthens systems.

Most organisations are not short of data. The harder challenge is generating the right evidence, exercising sound judgement, and building the systems and capacity to act on what is learned.

I work at the intersection of evaluation, research, strategy and institutional strengthening. My focus is on helping organisations clarify what success looks like, assess what is working and why, identify risks and gaps, and translate findings into decisions on programme design, policy, financing, adaptation and scale.

Education is my principal sector, spanning out-of-school children, inclusion, teacher education, education in emergencies, education systems, EMIS and digital transformation. I have applied the same evidence and systems expertise across health, governance, gender and public services in development, humanitarian, fragile and post-conflict contexts.

My professional practice combines global portfolio leadership with deep research experience, including large-scale social audits and surveys, mixed methods, qualitative inquiry, GIS-supported analysis, outcome harvesting and experimental research.

From evidence generation to institutional change

Explore the areas where I have developed and applied technical and strategic expertise across sectors and contexts.

Evaluation, Research & Evidence

Evaluation strategy and governance, applied and implementation research, mixed methods, impact and sustainability studies, outcome harvesting, evidence synthesis and research ethics.

EvaluationResearchMixed Methods

MEL/MERL & Results Architecture

Theory of change, results frameworks, indicator design, portfolio monitoring, data quality, verification, organisational learning and adaptive management.

MEL/MERLRBMLearning

Strategy & Institutional Strengthening

Evidence-based planning, strategic planning, institutional capacity strengthening, partner performance, policy dialogue and knowledge translation.

StrategyCapacityEvidence Use

Education

Out-of-school children, teacher education, inclusion, education in emergencies, education systems, EMIS and learner-level data.

OOSCTeachersEiE

Health & Public Services

Maternal and child health, health-service access, social audits, service delivery, evidence-to-action and public accountability.

Health SystemsServices

Governance & Gender

Local governance, citizen participation, gender-based violence, accountability, community monitoring and institutional learning.

GovernanceGender

Education Data & EMIS

EMIS interoperability, child-level data, dashboards, early-warning approaches and data quality for more inclusive systems.

EMISInteroperability

Digital Transformation

Whole-of-system digital transformation, DHIS2 for Education, responsible data use and evidence needs for AI-enabled education.

DHIS2Digital

Thought Leadership & Knowledge

Thought-leadership frameworks, thematic studies, technical guidance, publications and knowledge products linked to policy and practice.

KnowledgePolicy Dialogue

Work that connects evidence, systems and action

Global Education Portfolio

Evaluation & Learning at Education Above All

Leads the Evaluation and Learning pillar within EAA's centralised M&E Directorate, covering evaluation and applied research, evidence synthesis, portfolio learning, knowledge products and management use of findings.

Education Above All Foundation | Educate A Child Programme

Global M&E Architecture and Portfolio Evidence

Led programme-level M&E across 113 projects with 51+ partner organisations in 58+ countries, strengthening results architecture, monitoring, data quality, evaluation, research and partner capability.

Thought Leadership

EAC Thought Leadership Framework & M&E Knowledge Suite

Spearheaded an evidence-led framework and knowledge suite spanning system transformation, inclusion, Zero OOSC, sustainability, capacity strengthening, digital transformation and results measurement.

Education Data & Digital Transformation

Zero OOSC, EMIS Interoperability and DHIS2

Contributed to approaches linking learner-level data, EMIS interoperability, dashboards and early-warning analysis to better identify and support children who are out of school or at risk of exclusion.

Large-Scale Research | Pakistan

National Social Audits and Evidence-to-Action Research

Led repeated national and subnational social audits and linked surveys across 100+ districts and 50,000+ households per cycle, supported by extensive focus groups and key-informant inquiry.

Teacher Education | Liberia & Pakistan

USAID Teacher-Education Research and MEL

Led monitoring, evaluation and research for major USAID teacher-education programmes, supporting teacher policy, institutional reform, early-grade learning and education-management data systems.

Health Systems | Nigeria

Evidence-Based Health Planning Initiative

Directed Cross River State research and evidence-to-action work using repeated social audits, participatory analysis, scorecards and institutional capacity strengthening linked to planning and budget processes.

Fragile Context | Afghanistan

Demonstration Social Audit of Health Services

Led mixed-method research on health-service performance and community experience, combining field research with government engagement and evidence-use processes.

Selected publications and insights

Contributing to wider professional and policy conversations

Academic and professional foundation

M.Sc. Rural DevelopmentWye College, University of London
M.A. International RelationsUniversity of Balochistan, Pakistan
M.A. EconomicsShah Abdul Latif University, Pakistan
LL.B. Law and LegislationUniversity Law College, Quetta, Pakistan
Building Blocks of Effective National M&E SystemsWorld Bank Group / Global Evaluation Initiative, 2026
CITI Social & Behavioral Research CertificationFHI 360
Advanced Social Audit Research MethodsCIET / Soul City Regional Programme
Epidemiological Geomatics, GIS & Applied AnalysisCIET / University of Guerrero

Evidence. Learning. Stronger systems.

I welcome conversations on evaluation and learning, global education, applied research, evidence-informed strategy, institutional strengthening and education data systems.