Annual Review 2018 Annual Review 2018 Child Helpline International is the global network of Contents child helpline organisations which together received over 24 million contacts a year from children and Message from the Board Chair 3 young people in need of care, protection and support. Child helplines are most often the first point of contact Our work in 2018: Highlights 4 for children who are in need of support and protection. ACT to EVAC 5 Child Helpline International collects data and this WeListen: Community of Practice 7 knowledge base is used to advocate on behalf of children to make their lives safer by highlighting the gaps in the child protection systems – more information Our members in 2018 8 regarding child helpline data can be found here: https://www.childhelplineinternational.org/data- International Consultation of Child Helplines 10 overview/ Child Helpline International is a registered non-profit Foundation (Stichting) registered in the Netherlands (2003). Contact us at: [email protected] Child Helpline International Pilotenstraat 20-22 1059CJ Amsterdam The Netherlands +31(0)20 528 96 25 www.childhelplineinternational.org Message from the Board Chair In 2018, Child Helpline International celebrated its 15th anniversary. There have been some fantastic achievements and many great successes during the past decade and a half of our work. We have seen the establishment of an international network of child helplines around the world. International efforts to establish effective child protective systems at the national level continue apace, with efforts like the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, which recognises child helplines as an essential element of such systems. With the support of our global partner, UNICEF, we have seen some encouraging developments during 2018 in countries such as Argentina, Benin, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. We launched our first Community of Practice in Europe, focusing on LGBTQI+ children and young people, and we introduced our new Quality Assurance Framework for child helplines with a pilot self-assessment exercise for child helplines launched in November. The undoubted highlight of the year was the Ninth International Consultation of Child Helplines, which took place in Toronto, Canada, 6-8 November 2018. This gathering of child helplines and partners from all around the world saw a lively exchange of experiences and ideas about the future development of child helplines, including discussion on how we could benefit from developments in technology by establishing global online access for as many children as possible. Throughout the year, we continued to strengthen our Every child has a activities in supporting and promoting child helplines, and these will advance even further in the years to come. One “voice. This has been of the major challenges will be to contribute in the best and most effective way possible to the objectives set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially target our firm belief since 16.2, which has the aim of ending all forms of violence against children by 2030. our foundation in Every child has a voice. This has been our firm belief 2003, and this same since our foundation in 2003, and this same simple belief drives us ever forwards. I am proud of what we have achieved in 2018, I am proud of what we have achieved simple belief drives over the past 15 years, and I look forward to what we can and will achieve in the future, as we continue to work us ever forwards. tirelessly to ensure that no child is left unheard. ” Professor Jaap Doek. Chair of the Supervisory Board Annual Report 2018 Our work in 2018: Highlights Goal 1: Developing Child Helpline Child Helpline International’s strategic goals International’s programmatic knowledge for the period 2016-2020 and expanding our thematic expertise • Developing Child Helpline International’s We strengthened European child helplines by building programmatic knowledge and expanding our capacity on data collection and through developing thematic expertise expertise by enhancing cross-sector partnerships • Improved evidence-based advocacy between governments, children’s rights organisations and • Building an effective and sustainable organisation industry partners. With the support and funding from the EU Commission we also implemented our new quality standards for child helplines. By implementing our Advocate, Collaborate & Train to End Violence Against Children (ACT to EVAC) programme in partnership with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), we supported crucial services available to victims of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in five target countries.See “ACT to EVAC” on page 5 for more information about this project. In partnership with UNICEF, we continued to strengthen child helplines in the East and South Africa (ESA) region by improving data advocacy and harmonising terminology. We made an inventory of the tools and guidelines currently used by child helplines in the region, and reviewed them. We also developed an internal guide on how to receive and respond adequately to contacts from children and young people, and Standardised Operating Procedures (SOPs) for child helplines on how to refer cases to statutory and non-statutory actors in the child protection system, and organised a Training-of-Trainers (ToT) course on how to use them. Working with other UNICEF national offices and national partners around the world, we ran a project to strengthen the capacities of the National Police Line 110 in Guatemala, improved child and youth protection through unifying and strengthening the capacities of Líneas 102 in Argentina, and supported the first phase of starting up child helplines in El Salvador and Honduras. We supported the development and launch of a child helpline in Benin by providing a training on call response, case management and child protection for counsellors, and developing a short advocacy video for the child helpline. We developed an internal guide for case management and referral for the child helpline. In collaboration with CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the UK’s National Crime Agency, we also supported the development of a child helpline in the Cayman Islands, providing specific recommendations for the creation of a child helpline. 4 Annual Report 2018 ACT to EVAC In March 2018, Child Helpline International joined 2018 proved to be a very fruitful year for the ACT to EVAC hands with the International Centre for Missing & programme. During the course of 2018, our milestones Exploited Children (ICMEC) to support victims and included: survivors of online child sexual exploitation and • A strategic partnership meeting in April 2018. abuse (CSEA). • The outline and design of the five national studies, in terms of methodology and structure. Advocate, Collaborate & Train to End Violence • Two kick-off meetings with our implementing partners Against Children (ACT to EVAC), funded by the – one in Nairobi, Kenya (June 2018) with four of the Fund to End Violence Against Children, is a 27-month child helplines, and one in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania joint programme that supports five focus countries (September 2018) when the Tanzania National Child in establishing or enhancing their national response Helpline joined the programme. systems to online CSEA. This will be achieved • The outline and design of the #Youth Engagement through implementing the Model National Response Strategy by the ACT to EVAC #Youth representatives framework, which has been developed by the in October 2018. WePROTECT Global Alliance. • The Ninth International Consultation of Child Helplines in Toronto in November 2018 featured Participants in the programme are: a side meeting for the ACT to EVAC implementing • Childline Kenya partners and #Youth representatives. • Tanzania National Child Helpline (operated by C-Sema) • Télefono Anar (operated by FundaciÓn Anar PerÚ) • Bantay Bata 163 (operated by the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation in the Philippines) • JRF 110 Helpline (operated by the Jordan River Foundation). 5 Annual Report 2018 Goal 2: Improved evidence-based advocacy As part of a four-year Framework Partnership Agreement under the European Commission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme we are working to further improve accessibility to child helplines through promoting inclusive practices. In 2018, we looked at how child helplines can best support LGBTQI+ children and youth. We did this by collecting and sharing good practices among our EU members and partners, by improving our data collection, and through establishing quality standards for our member child helplines specifically relating to inclusive practices. See “WeListen: Community of Practice” on page 7 for more information about this project. Through our partnership with ICMEC, we successfully determined the outline and design of five national studies relating to the ACT to EVAC programme. In May 2018, we published jointly with IIN OEA (Inter- American Children’s Institute of the Organization of the American States) a report that showcased the work of child helplines in the Americas and the Caribbean, and their position in national child protection systems. Goal 3: Building an effective and sustainable organisation Throughout the year, we continued our collaboration with Facebook, Google and the telecoms sector, attending the EMEA Facebook and Google Summit in Dublin, April 2018. In 2018, we renewed our collaboration with the GSMA with