Development Practice Student and Graduate Profiles

What was the best thing about your Development Practice program?

• The best part about my study was that it enhanced my desire to bring about positive change in the community, government, local and global environments. The Masters of Development Practice (Development Planning) was a highly structured programme that provided specific skills and competencies to address the needs of developing countries in a variety of areas like urban & regional planning, strategic planning, social planning and development.

What did your study lead to?

• After returning to Pakistan he worked in government, the not-for-profit sector and finally as an Institutional Development Specialist in the USAID funded Assessment and Strengthening Program (ASP-AiD) in Islamabad. My core responsibilities included program and project planning and implementation for local organisations. It was my job to ensure the organizational governance, financial management, procurements and monitoring and evaluation systems were in place for smooth, efficient and transparent functioning. I have also had an extensive career, also working as a consultant with the Asian Development Bank, and participating in research studies financed by significant global players in the reduction of poverty such as DFID (UK), CIDA and the EU.

What was the most important thing you learnt/or most defining experience, you had while studying Development Practice at UQ?

• When reflecting on my time at UQ I am particularly grateful to my supervisors who helped with my research project on the Impact of Globalization in Developing Countries, for which I received the Peterwood Memorial Award. When I started working on my dissertation, the topic seemed very elusive, and I felt that I wouldn’t be able to make it to the end. It was made possible by the constant encouragement and supervision of Dr Manokumarasuriyar that in the end I came up with a document that earned a high distinction.