Expert Advisors

Health, Nutrition, Family Planning, Education, Survey Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

M.A., Demography, Australian National University, Australia
M.A., Statistics, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
B.A. (Honors), Statistics, Dhaka University, Bangladesh

Design of survey methodology, Survey instruments development, Training of field personnel, Computer programming, Data management, and Report writing

Mr. S. N. Mitra is the founder and executive director of Mitra & Associates since 1983. He has 40 years of professional experience and expertise and carried out planning, implementation, & management of about 200 national and sub-national large-scale and complex survey research projects in the field of demographic, adolescent reproductive health, health and nutrition, social accountability and social safety net, food security, social issues, and pro-poor governance. He has acquired a wide exposure to, and relationship with many national and international institutions/firms and experts including NIPORT, World Bank, UNICEF, USAID, UNC, DFID, ADB, OPM and icddr,b etc. Prior to initiating Mitra and Associates, Mr. Mitra worked as Deputy Director of Management Information System (MIS) Unit of the Population Control Division of Bangladesh where he was responsible for conducting surveys such as the Contraceptive Prevalence Survey, setting of contraceptive targets by areas and monitoring achievement of targets. He performed a long professional life in other governmental offices where his responsibilities majorly involved in depth statistical evaluation and research studies. He has worked on a number of projects across Bangladesh, and Maldives

1. Ahmed Al-Sabir, Mitra SN, Islam S, Bhadra SK, Cross AR, Kumar S. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). 2004. Calverton, Maryland: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra & Associates, and ORC Macro. 2005. USA
2. Mitra SN, Ahmed Al-Sabir, Cross AR, Saha T, Kumar S. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). 1999-2000. Calverton, Maryland: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and ORC Macro. 2001. USA
3. Mitra SN, Ahmed Al-Sabir, Cross AR, Jamil Kanta. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). 1996-97. Calverton, Maryland: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and ORC Macro. 1997. USA
4.Mitra SN, Ali MN, Islam S, Cross AR, Saha T. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). 1993-94. Calverton, Maryland: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and MACRO International Inc. 1994. USA
5. Mitra SN, Ahmed S, Amanullah ASM. Islam S, Sharif JH. Access to Media in Bangladesh: National Media Study 1995. Dhaka: Mitra and Associates, UNICEF, Johns Hopkins University (JHU)/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and Social Marketing Company (SMC). 1995.
6. Mitra SN, Harbison S, Karim MF, and Sufian AJ. Contraceptive Choice in Bangladesh: In Secondary Analysis of Bangladesh Contraceptive Prevalence Survey 1983. Dhaka: Mitra & Associates.

Planning and implementation of surveys, Development of survey instruments, Development of fieldwork procedures for sampling and data collection, Preparation of manuals for field personnel, Development of training programs for survey personnel, Designing data processing systems and tabulation, data analysis and report writing.

Master of Commerce, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Health and Demography, Family Planning, Nutrition, Behaviour Change Communication (BCC), Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP), Education, Survey Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Women and Child Development Mr. Shahidul Islam, with 35+ years of experience in survey research implementation and data collection operation is Mitra and Associates’ Director (Research) since 1992 who started his carrier with this organization. With excellent skills in the field of qualitative and quantitative survey research, he has successfully implemented about more than 150 surveys including more than 50 national and sub-national surveys research projects with NIPORT, USAID, UNC, World Bank, DFID, OPM and icddr,b etc. Shahidul Islam leads and manages all aspects of survey design as well as technical supervision of project implementation. He plays a critical role in maintaining liaison with the national and international clients as focal technical person. He wrote more than 35 survey research reports as the principal or as a co-author.

1. Shahidul Islam, co-authored with Rashid U. Zaman and others. Experiences of a new cadre of midwives in Bangladesh: findings from a mixed method study: Human Resources for Health (2020) 18:73. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-020-00505-8
2. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys 1993/94, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017-18. The Survey was sponsored by the Government of Bangladesh and funded by USAID/Dhaka.
3. Baseline study on trained diploma midwives in Bangladesh 2019. The Survey was sponsored by Oxford Policy Management (OPM) and funded by the Department for International Development (DFID)

4. Accelerating Progress towards Maternal and Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity Reduction Project 2008. Three UN Agencies- UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO- were jointly provided technical support to the project

5. The Baseline Health and Nutrition Survey at Emergency Health & Nutrition Areas 2008. The Survey funded by Save the Children, USA/Dhaka

6. 2008 Baseline Urban Bangladesh Smiling Sun Franchise Program (BSSFP) Evaluation Survey. The Survey was undertaken under a contract from MEASURE Evaluation, the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The survey funded by funded by USAID/Dhaka

7. The Baseline Health and Nutrition Survey at Emergency Health & Nutrition Areas 2008. The Survey funded by Save the Children, USA/Dhaka
8 Mid-term Evaluation Household Survey of Bangladesh Urban Primary Health Care Project-2003. The Survey was undertaken under a contract from the Bangladesh Government and funded by Asian Development Bank(ADB)

9 The 1995 National Media Survey. A Joint Study by The Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Program/Social Marketing Company and UNICEF/Dhaka

10 Bangladesh National Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS)-1991. The Survey was sponsored by Government of Bangladesh and funded by USAID/Dhaka

Program development, implementation & monitoring, Quantitative and qualitative research, Training and facilitation, Advocacy, Social mobilization, Social and behavior change communication

Masters of Health science, The Johns Hopkins University, USA

Renowned as a development expert with many accolades in professional career, Ms. Mira Mitra is the Director of Mitra and Associates since 2016. She is responsible for managing and coordinating development of survey instruments, training of survey personnel, data collection, processing of data and analyzing of findings to generate reports.

Besides Mitra and Associates, Ms. Mitra has also worked in the UNICEF Bangladesh Country Office for many years while working directly with various levels of officials and professionals, ranging from ministry, national, sub-national and community levels. In her 35+ years of professional career, as a Communication for Development Consultant, Ms. Mitra has facilitated several national and sub-national workshops with various stakeholders to understand the issues including social norms exist in the society, and to get their recommendations for addressing the child marriage issues.

Translation, pre-testing and finalization of quantitative and qualitative survey questionnaires/tools/guideline, training of data collectors, field supervision and ensuring quality, documentation, data analysis and report writing.

BA(Honors) in English, Bangladesh Islami University, Bangladesh
MA in ELT, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh

Tanjum Ara Polly has recently joined the Mitra and Associates team in the role of Communication Advisor in 2022. Ms. Polly has maintained a long, successful 22 years of professional career and gained experience in the field of program communication & advocacy, media management, advertising, and Project Management. On the work front, she has worked with Government, national and international development agencies, and several USAID-funded projects. She is also a cultural activist with active engagement in TV and other organization. Besides her advising role in M&A, Ms. Polly works as a Program Coordinator at Bharasa Institute. She holds an MBA degree from Stamford University, Bangladesh.

Reviewing of Request for Proposal (RFP), organizing preparation/submission of technical and financial proposals, negotiation and finalization of contract, administering the contract, overseeing the technical issues including survey methodology/sampling, translation, pre-testing and finalization of questionnaires, recruitment and training of data collectors, data collection, data processing and submission of clean data sets to client. His rigorous duties also involve finance and budget analysis and monitoring of budget-specific task implementation

Bachelor (honors) in Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Health and Demography, Family Planning, Nutrition, Survey Research, Budget Analysis, and Monitoring and Evaluation, Liaison and Client Negotiation

With around 30 years of experience in human, financial and logistical resource management, Mr. Pasha began his journey with Mitra and Associates in 1991 and since then has successfully carried out more than 100 sponsored quantitative and qualitative survey research projects. Currently working as a Director (Operation), Mr. Pasha has collaborated with several and international clients including Government of Bangladesh (DG Health, NIPORT, LGRDC and etc.) UN Agencies (UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, FAO, IFAD and etc.), USAID, ADB, GTZ, World Bank, DFID, OPM and icddr,b etc.
Mr. Fuad Pasha who has worked in all the eight Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS) implemented out since 1993; and all the three Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Maternal Services Health Surveys (BMMS) implemented out since 2016 and carried out major tasks including preparation of project proposals, negotiation/finalization of project contracts, administering contract, overseeing the technical issues including survey methodology/sampling, translation, pre-testing and finalization of questionnaires, recruitment and training of data collectors, data collection, data processing and submission of clean data sets to client. His rigorous duties also involve finance and budget analysis.

Lanning and managing data processing operations, preparation of data entry programmes, Assistance in fieldwork monitoring, Training and Supervision of data entry personnel, Performing quality control checks and reliability of the data entry system, and Recruitment.

B. Sc in Computer Science, North South University, Bangladesh

Md. Munirul Islam is Technical Director at Mitra and Associates who has extensive experience in implementing and managing about 40 large scale and complex data based national and international projects funded by Govt. of Bangladesh, USAID, UNICEF, World Bank, ADP, UNDP, CARE, Save the Children, Icddr,b and so on. During his illustrious career, his role predominantly included business analysis and software development with large data processing operations. He also has professional knowledge for scrutinizing range, structure and internal consistencies of data using SPSS PC+, CSPro., ISSA and ACCESS.

Preparation of manuals, Translation, Pretesting and finalization of questionnaire, supervision and quality control, Training, and monitoring field visit.

Master of Commerce, Dhaka University, Bangladesh

Mr. Md. Ab Siddique Mozumder is the Director (Field, Training and Administration) at Mitra and Associates with more than 35 years of experience in the field of survey research and implemented nearly 150 projects under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, USAID, ADB, World Bank, international & national universities. In his long professional career with Mitra and Associates, Mr. Mozumder has been responsible for ensuring reliable data collection, assessment of staff performance, and, and communication support. He effectively organizes field operations which includes providing training, overseeing mock interviews, field practicing and debriefing later, conducting written tests and final selection of field personnel for interviewing.

Prepare Financial Statement, Handle Annual Closings, Maintain Accounting Entries of VAT/TAX, Documentation, Translation, and Finalization of questionnaires, Recruitment, and Field Work Planning.

MBA in Finance & Banking

Ms. Shandhani Bhattacharjee, working as a Research Associate (Finance), began her journey with Mitra and Associates in 2014. In her 7+ years with the organization, she has been responsible for managing accounting tasks, preparing budget and carrying out other finance related duties. Her major tasks include putting together expenditure documents as per client demand, assisting in managing balance sheets, maintaining ledger book, preparing bill voucher and so on. Ms. Shandhani has worked in more than 20 National, and Sub-national research projects including three Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys; Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Maternal Services Health Surveys (BMMS); Multiple Cluster Indicator Surveys (MICS); Matlab Health and Socio-Economic Surveys etc.

Translation, pretesting and finalization of questionnaires, Supervision of the editing, Recruitment and training of survey personnel, Planning and supervision of field work, and Coding and internal consistency checking of data.

MSS in Economics, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Md. Monir Hossain Bhuiyan, in his role as Senior Research Officer, is involved in several key functions for conducting and coordinating data collection operations. With 30+ years of experience in the field of survey research, Mr. Bhuiyan has been associated with Mitra and Associates since 1991. With complete contribution to any survey work, he examines quality data from the field and maintains survey documents.During his long professional career, Mr. Bhuiyan has worked in about 45 survey-research projects which involved important national organizations including all the eight Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS), all the three Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Health Survey (BMMS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and Motlab Health and Socio Economic Survey.

Translation, pre-testing and finalization of quantitative and qualitative survey questionnaires/tools/guideline, training of data collectors, field supervision and ensuring quality, documentation, data analysis and report writing.

MA in ELT, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh

Mr. Najmul Hoque Sojib, in his role of Research Officer at Mitra and Associates since 2021, is responsible for survey tools development, translation of guidelines and manuals, finalization of guidelines through pretesting, ensuring quality of transcription and translation and training of survey personnel. With more than 4 years of professional experience in different leading national and internationally renowned organizations in the country, Mr. Najmul has a solid understanding and skills in field research like qualitative data collection with focus group discussion, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, case study, and report writing,

Pre-testing and finalization of data collection instruments, Coding and internal consistency check, Data editing, cleaning and processing, and Training & final selection of the survey personnel

M.Sc in Fisheries

Mr. Zahurul Islam serves as a Junior Research Officer at Mitra and Associates and is primarily responsible for pre-testing and finalization of data collection instruments, ensuring quality survey data collection, anthropometric measurement, bio-maker sampling, preservation and transportation. Mr. Zahurul has worked in more than 30 National and Sub-national research projects including three Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys; Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Maternal Services Health Surveys (BMMS); Multiple Cluster Indicator Surveys (MICS); Matlab Health and Socio-Economic Surveys etc, USAID, ADB, World Bank and so on