A.K. Shiva Kumar

A. K. Shiva Kumar (Shiv), a New Delhi based development economist, policy advisor and evaluator, has over the past 40 years, taught economics, undertaken evaluations of social policies and programs, conducted research and policy analysis, worked with governments, international agencies and civil society organizations.  His research interests have focused on poverty and human development, social policy including education, health and nutrition, childhood violence, as well as the rights of women and children. He is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People, and Co-Chair of Know Violence in Childhood – A Global Learning Initiative.  Shiv works closely with the UN in India, advising the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women. Additionally, he serves as a Leadership Council Member for the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the Global Women’s Institute at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. 

Shiv has conducted thematic evaluations and assessed country-level development results for the Independent Evaluation Office of the New Development Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, and WFP. He has been a regular contributor to global and national Human Development Reports since 1990. He served as the Director of UNDP’s International Centre for Human Development in India (2014-15) and as a senior policy advisor to UNICEF India (1992-2017). Shiv was a member of the Government of India’s National Advisory Council between 2005 and 2014.

 Shiv teaches economics and public policy as a visiting faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the Young India Fellowship program at Ashoka University (Sonepat, India), and the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India). He did his Masters in Economics from Bangalore University, and Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.  He is also an alumnus of Harvard University where he did a Masters in Public Administration and a Ph.D in Political Economy and Government.