In order to understand the issues faced by the children and young people who get in touch with child helplines, Child Helpline International surveys their members around the world each and every year to gather information about the contacts they receive. This unique and vital data gives an insight into the ways in which children and young people experience the systems that are designed to protect them, the issues that matter to them, and the gaps in protective services.
This publication presents the key takeaways from their analysis of the 2020 data, together with four key recommendations: that every child should have free and unrestricted access to child helpline services, that the quality and sustainability of child helplines is crucial to ensuring children’s rights, that child helpline data and youth participation should inform the policy and decision-making that affects children’s lives, and that structured partnerships are needed to eradicate violence against all children.
As well as providing the global overview, the report also focuses individually on each of the five regions in which their members operate, and the main reasons that children and young people make contact – including, in 2020, reasons relating to the Covid-19 pandemic that has gripped the world.
