Ashish Bajracharya

Ashish Bajracharya is the Deputy Director of International Programs at the Population Council. He provides leadership and support across the Population Council’s country offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and its affiliated organizations, with the aim of maximizing the Council’s positive impact and ensuring that the organization’s research and knowledge is effectively influencing national policy and programs globally. He supports, and works closely with, the Director of International Programs and the Vice President of International Programs in the initiation, development, and monitoring of International Programs Division strategies and priorities in countries of Council presence.   

Bajracharya is a social demographer and behavioral scientist with over 15 years of professional experience specializing in issues related to gender, transitions to adulthood, maternal, sexual and reproductive health, family planning and HIV & AIDS outcomes of vulnerable populations, and rigorous evaluations of health financing and health systems strengthening interventions in LMICs. Over his career, Bajracharya has led and supported research, technical and organizational engagements for the Council in over 15 countries globally, with a primary focus in Asia and Africa. He currently serves in his global leadership role from his base in Nairobi, Kenya, having served in the role from Dhaka, Bangladesh from 2020 to 2023. Between 2015 and 2019, he established and served as the Country Representative of the Population Council’s office in Cambodia, and co-led WorkerHealth, a $3.8 million USAID initiative aimed at improving access to reproductive health and family planning services among female garment factory workers in Cambodia. Prior to his appointment in Phnom Penh, he was based at the Council’s offices in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2012-2015), Hanoi, Vietnam (2011-2012), and as a Bixby Postdoctoral Fellow in its New York headquarters (2008-2010).  

Bajracharya has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles, research papers, policy reports, and issue briefs, and has published his research in journals such as Demography, The Lancet, Studies in Family Planning, Journal of Adolescent Health and Developmental Psychology. He also serves on expert panels and advisory committees, as a referee for leading peer-reviewed journals in his field and has presented his research at scientific fora and international conferences around the world. In 2017, he was named one of the ‘120 under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders’ by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute of Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recognizing him as a young leader under the age of 40 in the field of family planning and reproductive health.  

Bajracharya received his Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University in 2008 where he specialized in social demography and human development. He is a native of Nepal.