Key Personnel

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 Dr. Ballal is a maternal and child health and nutrition expert with 15 years of senior and management-level experience working on major USAID-funded and other international donor programs in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Laos and India. His immediate previous assignment was as Infectious Diseases Advisor for the USAID mission in Kyrgyzstan. Dr. Ballal also served previously as Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) nutrition project in Kyrgyz Republic, after managing the $38 million nutrition component of the World Bank’s National Health Strategy in the same country. An experienced leader, with technical and managerial expertise earned at the helm of health and nutrition programs for USAID, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Abt Associates, and the World Bank, Dr Ballal has been an advisor for numerous USAID projects bringing a strong understanding of its multi-sectoral nutrition and community-health system strengthening approaches and gender programming. He is also experienced in project management, monitoring and evaluation, and policy advocacy for major international donors and is skilled at building strategic partnerships, designing gender-sensitive nutrition programs, and conducting assessments aligned with country and donor needs.. His diverse technical experience includes Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), immunization, nutrition, results-based financing, health systems strengthening, in addition to COVID-19 response and global health security. 

Dr Ballal holds a Doctor Medicine from St. Petersburg State Medical Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia as well as a Master of Public Health from Harvard University, USA. 

  With an M. Sc. in Aquaculture (Fisheries) Mr. Reja has a solid experience of 35 years in nutrition, food security, livelihoods and rural development projects in international and national I/NGOs, international development agencies (DANIDA)/Government Projects (Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock) and the UN. He has significant experience in partnership management and managing a variety of development sectors, such as nutrition, livelihoods/food security, women & adolescent development, fisheries, livestock, agriculture, water & sanitation, Farmer Field/Nutrition Schools, community (farmers’ cooperatives/federations)/institutional development (capacity of Union Parishad) including designing integrated programs, supporting finance and operations and program/financial monitoring. Prior to joining CARE Bangladesh, he was working with Save the Children as Deputy Program Director. He also has a significant number of publications in the fields of nutrition and agriculture.