Atieno Odenyo is a senior social policy and child protection consultant with more than 25 years of experience supporting governments, regional bodies, UN agencies and civil society organizations at all levels. Her work focuses on strengthening social services and child protection systems, advancing professionalization of the social service workforce, and improving the delivery of integrated services within decentralized governance contexts. She brings a strong grounding in human rights–based and gender-responsive approaches, with an emphasis on translating policy into effective practice. Atieno serves as Maestral’s Social Policy Thematic Hub Lead.
Her technical expertise spans social sector and workforce assessment and design, results-based strategic and operational planning and institutional strengthening. She has led complex multisectoral coordination processes and contributed to the analysis, review and development of laws, policies and strategies on child protection and social services. She led the development of competency-based national social work curricula, supportive supervision, standard operating procedures and capacity development programmes for the SSW. Her experience covers case management, care reform, family strengthening, prevention of violence against children and women, child marriage, FGM/C, HIV, migration, adolescent SRHR and social protection. She has supported large-scale USAID- and UNICEF-fundeded programmes and worked as a staff member with UNICEF and UNAIDS. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Planning, London School of Economics and is based in Kenya.