Salma Ahmed is a development economist whose work focuses on gender inequality, child labour, education, health, and fertility in developing countries, particularly in Bangladesh and India and more recently on other states of South Asian region. Her recent research has focused on two central areas: (i) economic evaluation of welfare policy and development finance program, and (ii) impact of external shocks on maternal and child wellbeing. She obtained a PhD in economics in 2013 and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in economics in 2008, both at Monash University, Australia.