Affiliate
Vanda Younan-Handal is a seasoned Child Protection and Safeguarding Specialist with over 20 years of leadership and technical experience in humanitarian and development settings across the Middle East. Holding a master’s degree in international cooperation and development and a background in business administration and accounting, Vanda brings an integrated approach to strengthening systems that support children and vulnerable groups. She has held senior leadership roles with Terre des Hommes and World Vision International, where she oversaw multi-sectoral programs in child protection, GBV, safeguarding, education, and local partner capacity building. Vanda has led strategic planning, program design, implementation, and evaluation efforts, with extensive experience liaising with governments, UN agencies, and civil society. Currently, she works as an affiliate consultant with Maestral International and other clients, supporting national and regional governments in designing and costing multisectoral strategies and action plans to strengthen child protection systems and enhance the capacity of the social service workforce. Her work has consistently focused on strengthening protection systems, developing evidence-based strategies, and integrating safeguarding, inclusion of PwDs and community engagement across all levels of service delivery. She is fluent in Arabic and English, and she combines analytical expertise with deep contextual knowledge to support governments and NGOs in translating policy into practice.
