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About Us

Our mission is to deepen the culture of evidence across public and private sectors, inspire innovation, drive impact, and improve lives.

CERP is a leading impact-driven organisation focused on improving decision making through rigorous research, advanced analytics, capacity building, data collection and advisory services for public and private sectors.

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Global & Local Partners
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Research Fellows Globally
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WHY CERP?

There is tremendous amount of data collected but often little emphasis is put on properly analysing it to inform crucial decisions. CERP brings world-class skill set to clean, collate and make sense of the data to draw deeper insights and ultimately actionable intelligence. Deploying data and evidence to drive better decisions and eventually high-impact reforms across multiple sectors.

timeline

2022
2022

  • Dr Basit Zafar, Dilnaz Avari and Maheen Rahman join as Board Members
  • CERP becomes a CLEAR centre to strengthen M&E capacity in Pakistan and Central Asia
  • 44 programmes with 40+ active projects
  • Record growth year for CERP
  • 584 team members including field staff at CERP
2021
2021

  • Co-Founder, Adnan Q. Khan joins FCDO as Chief Economist and bids farewell to CERP as a board member 
  • Co-Founder & Board Member, Atif Mian awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in Economics 2021 and is elected as the 2021 Fellow of The Econometric Society
  • First cohort of CERP Alumni complete their PhDs
2020
2020

  • 9 Covid-19 Response Projects with multiple partners and stakeholders launched to help with rapid policy response
  • Policy Advisory launched as a CERP vertical
  • 31 programmes at CERP
2019
2019

  • CERP moves into a newly constructed three-story office building, expanding its capacity to accommodate the growing team
  • Inaugural conference ”Pakistan Development Forum” hosted in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University
  • Two new initiatives introduced, the CERP Labs vertical that focuses on impact-driven technology, and the National Science Bowl Pakistan (NSB-P), CSR initiative
  • BCURE ToT conducted in collaboration with EPoD at Harvard 
  • CERP conducted civil services reforms workshop 
  • CERP Team expanded to include 379 members
2018
2018

  • Maroof A. Syed joins as CEO with the objective of advancing CERP to a higher echelon, where CERP can co-locate knowledge production, encompassing our research endeavors, with capacity building initiatives and a product approach centered on applying research insights
  • A shift towards institution building, sustainability and scalability
  • Analytics and Survey verticals established with the aim to harness data for decision-making
  • Executive Education vertical rebranded and relaunched
  • 20 programmes at CERP
2017
2017

  • Public Procurement Project for Government of Punjab completed
  • Held "LEAPS: Educational Mela" for government schools in Lahore
  • British Asian Trust-Market Linkages (BAT ML) launched in alliance with British Asian Trust and Kaarvan Foundation
  • Ednovate Pakistan held in collaboration with LUMS Syed Ahsan Ali & Syed Maratib Ali School of Education
  • Projects added to research portfolio; Institutional Reform and Women's de facto Rights in Pakistan, and Tracking Hope in Karachi (THINK)
  • Launched Analytics service
  • Findings published on "Overcoming Barriers to Women's Mobility" by Women's Mobility Project and shared with the government
  • CERP Team expanded to include 120 members
2016
2016

  • Five-year Skills Development Program (SDP) launched in collaboration with the Punjab Skills Development Fund and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
2015
2015

  • CERP wins Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) grant for Education Financing Project (EFP)
  • Additional projects added to CERP’s portfolio; Customs, Sialkot Soccer Balls, Tax and Political Connections, Social Compact, Broadening Tax Base and Income Tax Evasion
  • CERP Team expanded to include 83 members
2014
2014

  •  First policy dialogue on Civil Services Reforms (CSS) organised
2013
2013

  • CERP’s core team strengthened with the appointment of Gemma Stevenson as CERP’s first Associate Director and Arqam Lodhi as CERP’s first programme and policy manager
  • Won bid for Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence (BCURE), Harvard Kennedy School  
  • MOU signed with National School of Public Policy in collaboration with Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, previously known as DFID
  • 11 programmes at CERP
  • 44 team members at CERP
2012
2012

  • CERP launches the official website and its first summer internship programme
  • Expanding the Research portfolio CERP launches three new projects: The Education Finance Project, Mobile Money Project, and The State Authority Project
2011
2011

  • CERP establishes its first office at 60 H Gulberg III
  • Recruitment initiated to help bring the vision of the founders into reality. The core management team is expanded with the hiring of Syed Ali Asjad Naqvi as CERP’s first research and training director and acting associate director and Wasif Mullick as the organisation’s first administrative and policy manager
  • The research portfolio is formalised by getting a grant for its first project: the Punjab Economic Opportunities Program (PEOP)
  • First-ever training programmes and policy dialogue held in collaboration with the Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR)
  • CLEAR courses train over 150 participants  leading to a significant increase in knowledge in the M&E capacity of local government and non-government organisations and resulting in new project partnerships
2010
2010

  •  On January 14, 2010, CERP formally incorporated in Pakistan
2007
2007

  • Asim Khwaja and Atif Mian meet Ali Cheema to bring the idea of CERP to life and build the institutional foundation of an independent non-partisan network of Pakistani economists
  • The initial discussions focus on creating a vibrant network of reputable academics and supporting them to undertake research on important economic and development challenges and to provide advice and mentorship to Pakistani students aspiring to do doctoral research in economics and applied social sciences at reputable universities
  • Adnan Q. Khan, Ali Cheema, Asim I. Khwaja, Atif R. Mian and Tahir Andrabi play a key role in envisioning CERP, as the founders
  • The institutional framework spearheaded by Ali, building core partnerships in government and bureaucracy
  • Tahir instrumental in articulating the concept note behind CERP as he has been present since inception
  • Linking policy and research, Adnan brings the perspective from policy side. He also plays an important role in establishing early links with the bureaucracy and embedding CERP's work in the government sector
  • The founders Adnan, Ali, Asim, Atif and Tahir Andrabi start the registration process
  • Hirra Waqas CERP’s first hire onboarded to support this work
  • LUMS provides office space and logistical support until CERP is registered as a formal organisation
  • UHY Hassan Naeem and Company and Minto and Mirza provide pro-bono support for the initial incorporation of CERP as a not-for-profit organisation
2001
2001

  • Asim Khwaja and Atif Mian start discussions in the basement of the economics department at Harvard University during their PhD, to create a network of Pakistani economists
  • The idea starts taking practical shape in early 2000s as their focus on research work in Pakistan increases starting with a conference at LUMS in 2001, co-hosted with LUMS faculty to promote research in Pakistan