Curriculum Vitae

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Profile

UNICEF Chief Statistician and Deputy Director (Data & Analytics) with extensive experience building statistical systems and policy analytics for international organizations, including leadership roles at the World Bank. Work spans poverty and equity measurement, education and learning assessment, SDG monitoring, and large-scale survey/microdata harmonization, with a focus on reproducible analytics and operational decision support.

Selected contributions

• Led multi-unit data and analytics functions across domains including population, education, poverty, nutrition, health, WASH, child protection, climate, frontier data, and survey methods.
• Co-developed the World Bank Learning Poverty measure and contributed to scaling comparable learning outcomes metrics across countries.
• Built global data harmonization and analytics architectures spanning 1,000+ learning assessments and 1,200+ household surveys.
• Delivered technical assistance and capacity building to national statistical systems and sector ministries, including poverty mapping and deprivation indices to support resource allocation.

Work Experience

Education

• PhD in Economics, University of Newcastle (Newcastle, United Kingdom), 2006 (thesis submitted 2005). Supervisors: Prof. Peter Dolton; Prof. Nauro Campos.
• MSc in Economics, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 2001. Supervisors: Marcelo C. Neri.
• BA in Economics, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 1998. Supervisors: Jorge Chami Batista.
• High School, Sandia Preparatory School (Albuquerque, NM, USA), 1993.

Selected Publications

Google Scholar: 5537 citations • h-index: 28 • i10-index: 60 • RePEc: 32319 downloads. Full list: Google Scholar | RePEc/IDEAS | ORCID

Journal Articles

• Azevedo, João Pedro, Banerjee, Anshu, Wilmoth, John, Fu, Haishan, You, Danzhen (2024). "Hard truths about under-5 mortality: call for urgent global action." The Lancet. doi
• Strong, Kathleen, You, Danzhen, Banerjee, Anshu, Azevedo, João Pedro (2024). "Global health estimates should be more responsive to country needs." The Lancet. doi
• Hasan, Amer, Azevedo, João Pedro, Goldemberg, Diana, Geven, Koen, Iqbal, Syedah Aroob (2021). "Simulating the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 School Closures on Schooling and Learning Outcomes." The World Bank Research Observer, 36(1), 1-40. doi
• Pushparatnam, Aparajita, Luna Bazaldua, Daniela A., Holla, Alaka, Azevedo, João Pedro, Clarke, Michael, Devercelli, Ana (2021). "Measuring Early Childhood Development Among 4-6 Year Olds: The Identification of Psychometrically Robust Items Across Diverse Contexts." Frontiers in Public Health. doi
• Castañeda, Andrés, Doan, Dung, Newhouse, David, Nguyen, Minh Cong, Uematsu, Hiroki, Azevedo, João Pedro (2018). "A New Profile of the Global Poor." World Development, 101, 250-267. doi
• Andalón, Mabel, Azevedo, João Pedro, Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos, Sanfelice, Viviane, Valderrama-González, Daniel (2016). "Weather Shocks and Health at Birth in Colombia." World Development, 82, 69-82. doi
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Batista, Jorge Chami (2002). "El TLC y las Pérdidas de Mercado de Brasil en los Estados Unidos, 1992-2001." Revista de la CEPAL, 78, 167-182.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Batista, Jorge Chami (1999). "O Desempenho das Exportações Brasileiras no Comércio Internacional de Mercadorias: Uma Aplicação do Modelo Constant Market-Share." Jornal dos Economistas(127).

Books

• Dolton, P., Azevedo, João Pedro, Smith, J. (2006). The econometric evaluation of the New Deal for Lone Parents. Department for Work and Pensions. PDF
• Ministério da Educação, IPEA, UNESCO (2006). Brasil Alfabetizado: caminhos da avaliação - Síntese dos principais resultados. MEC/UNESCO/IPEA.
• Ministério da Educação, IPEA, UNESCO (2006). Brasil Alfabetizado: caminhos da avaliação - Volume 1. MEC/UNESCO/IPEA.
• Ministério da Educação, IPEA, UNESCO (2006). Brasil Alfabetizado: caminhos da avaliação - Volume 2. MEC/UNESCO/IPEA.
• Ministério da Educação, IPEA, UNESCO (2006). Brasil Alfabetizado: caminhos da avaliação - Volume 3. MEC/UNESCO/IPEA.

Book Chapters

• Azevedo, João Pedro, Gutiérrez, M., Hoyos, R., Saavedra, J. (2021). "The Unequal Impacts of COVID-19 on Student Learning." In Primary and Secondary Education During COVID-19. , 421-459.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, López-Calva, L. F., Lustig, N., Ortiz-Juárez, E. (2015). "Inequality, Mobility and Middle Classes in Latin America." In Jeff Dayton-Johnson (Ed.), Latin America's Emerging Middle Classes: Economic Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2008). "Mensurando o Valor Social do Canal Futura: Uma Aplicação do Método de Valoração Contingente." In Débora Garcia and Ana Paula Brandão (Ed.), Comunicação e Transformação Social. Unisinos, 221-253.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2007). "Avaliando a Significância Estatística da Queda na Desigualdade no Brasil." In Ricardo Paes de Barros, Miguel Nathan Foguel, and Gabriel Ulyssea (Ed.), Desigualdade de Renda no Brasil: Uma Análise da Queda Recente. IPEA.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Foguel, Miguel Nathan (2007). "Uma Decomposição da Desigualdade de Rendimentos do Trabalho no Brasil." In Ricardo Paes de Barros, Miguel Nathan Foguel, and Gabriel Ulyssea (Ed.), Desigualdade de Renda no Brasil: Uma Análise da Queda Recente. IPEA.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Barros, Ricardo Paes de, Carvalho, Mirela de, Henriques, Ricardo (2007). "Um Mapa de Avaliação: O Caso do Programa Brasil Alfabetizado." In Série Educação Para Todos - Avaliação do Programa Brasil Alfabetizado. UNESCO.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Cruz, Luiz Eduardo, Pero, Valéria (2007). "Uma Avaliação da Demanda por Alfabetização no Brasil: Uma análise com dados secundários." In Série Educação Para Todos - Avaliação do Programa Brasil Alfabetizado. UNESCO.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Ulyssea, Gabriel, Schwartzman, Isabel F. (2007). "Avaliação de Processo: A Gestão do Programa Brasil Alfabetizado." In Série Educação Para Todos - Avaliação do Programa Brasil Alfabetizado. UNESCO.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2007). "Microfinance and Poor Entrepreneurs." In Simon Parker (Ed.), The Life Cycle of Entrepreneurial Ventures. Springer US, 301-334.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2006). "An Investigation of the Labour Market Earnings in Deprived Areas: Evaluating the Sources of Earning Differentials in the Slums." In B. Guha-Khasnobis and R. Kanbur (Ed.), Informal Labour Markets and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, 109-135.
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Pearce, Douglas, Reinsch, Myka, Brar, Amitabh (2005). "Caja Los Andes (Bolivia) Diversifies into Rural Lending." In CGAP Agricultural Microfinance Case Study. CGAP.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2003). "Políticas Públicas de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas no Reino Unido: Uma Avaliação das Experiências nos Anos 90." In Lastres, H., Cassiolato, J. E., and Maciel, M. L. (Ed.), Pequena Empresa: Cooperação e Desenvolvimento. Relume Dumará, 493-510.
• Azevedo, João Pedro (2002). "Microfinanças para Arranjos e Sistemas de MPME." In Lastres, H. et al. (Ed.), Interagir para Competir: Promoção de Arranjos Produtivos e Inovativos no Brasil. SEBRAE, 325-354.

Selected Reports

• Azevedo, João Pedro, Wajid, Sameen, Wilbanks, Sarah, Delamónica, Enrique, Diniz de Oliveira, Juliano, Mishra, Sakshi (2023). Progress on Children's Well-Being: Centring child rights in the 2030 agenda. UNICEF. doi
• Saavedra Chanduvi, Jaime, Jenkins, Robert, Dewan, Pragya, Reuge, Nicolas, Yao, Haogen, Alejo, Anna, Falconer, Aisling, Chakroun, Borhene, Chang, Gwang-Chol, Azevedo, João Pedro, Sánchez, Alonso, Giannini, Stefania, Brossard, Mathieu, Dreesen, Thomas, Bergmann, Jessica (2022). Where are we on Education Recovery? Taking the Global Pulse of a RAPID Response. UNICEF Office of Research–Innocenti. link
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Rogers, F. Halsey, Ahlgren, Sanna Ellinore, Cloutier, Marie-Helene, Chakroun, Borhene, Chang, Gwang Chol, Mizunoya, Suguru, Reuge, Nicolas Jean, Brossard, Matt, Bergmann, Jessica Lynn (2021). The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery. World Bank / UNICEF / UNESCO. link
• UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, OECD (2021). What's Next? Lessons on Education Recovery: Findings from a Survey of Ministries of Education amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. UNESCO / UNICEF / World Bank / OECD. link
• UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank (2020). What Have We Learnt? Overview of Findings from a Survey of Ministries of Education on National Responses to COVID-19. UNESCO / UNICEF / World Bank. link
• Azevedo, João Pedro, Crawford, Michael F., Nayar, Reema, Rogers, F. Halsey, Barron Rodriguez, Maria Rebeca, Ding, Elaine Yi Zhong, Gutierrez Bernal, Marcela, Dixon, Annette, Saavedra Chanduvi, Jaime, Arias Diaz, Omar S. (2019). Ending Learning Poverty: What Will It Take?. World Bank.

Selected Working Papers

• Azevedo, João Pedro, Cojocaru, Alexandru, Talledo, Veronica Montalva, Narayan, Ambar (2023). "COVID-19 School Closures, Learning Losses and Intergenerational Mobility." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Seitz, William, Kudo, Yuya, Azevedo, Joao Pedro (2023). "Blackout or Blanked Out?." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Akmal, Maryam, Azevedo, João Pedro, Cloutier, Marie-Helene, Rogers, Halsey, Wong, Yi Ning (2022). "Learning Losses during COVID-19." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Goldemberg, Diana, Azevedo, Joao Pedro, Montoya, Silvia, Nayar, Reema, Rogers, Halsey, Stacy, Brian William, Saavedra, Jaime (2021). "Will Every Child Be Able to Read by 2030? Defining Learning Poverty and Mapping the Dimensions of the Challenge." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Munoz-Najar, Alberto, Gilberto, Alison, Hasan, Amer, Cobo, Cristobal, Azevedo, Joao Pedro, Akmal, Maryam (2021). "Remote Learning During COVID-19." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Azevedo, Joao Pedro Wagner De, Montoya, Silvia, Akmal, Maryam, Wong, Yi Ning, Gregory, Laura, Geven, Koen Martijn, Cloutier, Marie-Helene, Iqbal, Syedah Aroob, Imhof, Adolfo Gustavo, De Andrade Falcao, Natasha, Kouame, Christelle Signo, Dahal, Mahesh, Gebre, Tihtina Zenebe, Vargas Mancera, Maria Jose (2021). "Learning Poverty Updates and Revisions." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Azevedo, Joao Pedro (2020). "Learning Poverty." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Azevedo, Joao Pedro (2020). "Learning Poverty in the Time of COVID-19." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Azevedo, Joao Pedro Wagner De, Goldemberg, Diana (2020). "Estimating the Potential COVID-19 Impacts on Learning Poverty in Brazil." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi
• Nguyen, Minh Cong, Corral, Paul, Azevedo, Joao Pedro, Zhao, Qinghua (2018). "SAE - A Stata Package for Unit Level Small Area Estimation." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. doi

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Service and Leadership

• Co-Lead, Global Solution Group on Welfare Measurement and Statistical Capacity (World Bank)
• Co-Lead, Data for Goals Initiative (World Bank)
• Education Statistics Coordinator, Education Global Practice (World Bank)
• Member, Technical Cooperation Group on SDG 4 indicators (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
• Reviewer, World Development, Journal of Development Economics, World Bank Research Observer
• SSC Contributor, Statistical Software Components (Boston College)

Selected Talks & Presentations

• Webinar: Effective Reading Instruction in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What the Evidence Shows (2025)
  Panelist: "GEEAP-endorsed literacy report global launch panel discussion"
  Virtual
• ADEA Triennale 2025 (2025)
  Panelist: "Measurement in Foundational Learning in Africa"
  Accra, Ghana
• ARFSD-11 Side Event (2025)
  Speaker: "The State of African Children: Harnessing Data for Policy Action and SDG Acceleration"
  Virtual
• CIES 2025 (2025)
  Presenter: "Digital tools and data-driven approaches in foundational learning"
  Chicago, USA
• UN56SC Side Event: Africa Expert Group on Child-and Adolescent-Related Statistics (2025)
  Organizer: "Establishing an Africa expert group on child-related statistics"
  Maurice Pate conference room, New York, USA
• UNSC side event: Technology-Facilitated Violence against Children & ICVAC implementation strategy (2025)
  Organizer: "Launch of UNICEF data brief on TFVAC; implementation strategy for ICVAC"
  Labouisse Hall, New York, USA
• 56th UN Statistical Commission Side Event (2025)
  Speaker: "AI & Data Quality: A Critical Intersection for Official Statistics"
  New York, USA
• 7th OECD World Forum on Well-being (2024)
  Presenter: "Child well-being agenda"
  Rome, Italy
• 9th Africa Statistical Conference (2024)
  Organizer: "Multiple sessions: Child-centric Surveys & MICS Programme; Health Data Analytics; Data Governance for Children; Expert group on child-related statistics"
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• 14th IAEG-SDG (2024)
  Presenter: "Presenting methodology from UNICEF Child Wellbeing report"
  Copenhagen, Denmark
• UNICEF Pakistan — PITB Delegation Visit (2024)
  Delegation Leader: "ICT Interventions and Data Analytics Collaboration"
  Lahore, Pakistan
• Pakistan DataFest 2024 (2024)
  Keynote Speaker: "Data For Life and Equity: Closing Human Capital Gaps"
  Islamabad, Pakistan
• 14th NIC.br Annual Workshop on Survey Methodology (2024)
  Keynote Speaker: "Improving ICT data quality and availability: combining new methodological approaches"
  São Paulo, Brazil
• NYU GPH Industry Seminar / PQAR Symposium (2024)
  Panelist: "Biostatistics & Data Science careers panel / PQAR Symposium day"
  New York, USA
• IDAC Steering Committee (2024)
  Chair: "First Steering Committee meeting of the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move"
  Virtual

View all speaking engagements →

Teaching & Mentoring

Teaching

• Avaliação em Políticas Públicas (Evaluation in Public Policies), Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (ENAP) (Brazil)
  Training Instructor • professional
  2006
• Curso de Aperfeiçoamento em Acompanhamento, Avaliação e Monitoramento de Programas e Projetos Sociais do FNDE, Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (ENAP) (Brazil)
  Training Instructor • professional
  2006
• Avaliação ex-post de programas sociais para gestores (Post-evaluation of Social Programs for Managers), Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (ENAP) (Brazil)
  Training Instructor • professional
  2006
• Regression Discontinuity Design: An Overview, Policy Study Institute (United Kingdom)
  Specialist Trainer • professional
  2005
• Contabilidade Nacional (National Accounting), Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) (Brazil)
  Substitute Professor • undergraduate
  2000–2001
• Economia Monetária (Monetary Economics), Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) (Brazil)
  Substitute Professor • undergraduate
  2000–2001

Supervision & Mentoring

• Master's Thesis Co-Advisor, Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) (Brazil)
  Co-Advisor • graduate
  2008
• Doctoral Examination Committee, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) (Brazil)
  Committee Member • graduate
  2006
• Doctoral Co-Advisor, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) (Brazil)
  Co-Advisor • graduate
  2006–2007–2008

Technical Expertise

Technical work draws on advanced statistical programming in Stata (including ado-file development and SSC contributions), R, Python, and SQL, combined with experience building analytical data services using SDMX, REST, and data warehouse APIs. Recent work integrates LLM-assisted analysis with human-in-the-loop review workflows, and emphasizes reproducible pipelines, data quality engineering, and PII compliance. Core quantitative methods include econometrics and impact evaluation, survey design and sampling, small area estimation and poverty mapping, and data visualization.

Domain expertise spans poverty measurement and analysis, education statistics and learning assessment, child development indicators, SDG monitoring and reporting, and human capital measurement. Languages: Portuguese (native), English (fluent), Spanish (fluent), French (basic).

Writing & Commentary

Regular contributor to policy discourse through 29 World Bank blog posts on education, poverty, and development data; 4 UNICEF Data commentaries on child well-being and SDG monitoring; and 8 LinkedIn articles on data systems and learning assessment. Selected recent posts:

• School closures and longer-term implications of COVID-19 for inter-generational mobility (2023, Let's Talk Development)
• Why hasn’t the pandemic sparked more concern for learning losses in Latin America? The perils of an invisible crisis (2023, Education for Global Development)
• The global education crisis – even more severe than previously estimated (2022, Education for Global Development)
• UNICEF report puts children at the heart of sustainable development (2023, UNICEF)
• Learning losses due to COVID-19 could add up to $10 trillion (2020, Brookings)

View all blogs and articles →