Child Helpline International is a collective impact organization with more than 150 child helpline members from over 130 countries and territories around the world.
We coordinate information, viewpoints, knowledge and data from our members, from our partners and from other external sources. This exceptional resource is used to support child protection systems globally, regionally and nationally, and to help our child helpline members advocate for the rights of children and young people, and amplify their voices.
Every year, our child helpline members around the world field more than 13 million individual calls, and provide counselling services to around 3 million children and young people. Until the founding of Child Helpline International in 2003, these organizations did their great work in isolation, with no access to one another. Now, we’re working together each and every day to bring children and young people’s voices to policymakers, decision makers and influencers.
Every child has a voice. We’re here to make sure that the world hears, listens and acts upon these voices.
A world where the voices of children and young people are heard and taken into account, and their rights are realised and protected.
As a global network we share research/data, knowledge and experiences to enhance the quality of response to children and young people in need of protection, support and guidance and to advocate for their rights.
Child Helpline International’s Multi-Annual Strategic Plan (MASP) sets a bold direction for the next five years. At the heart of our strategy is a powerful commitment: to strengthen child helplines worldwide so every child is heard, protected, and supported.
Our strategy is driven by collaboration, equity, and a deep respect for local context. We believe that child helplines are essential to every country’s child protection system, and we’ll continue to be their strongest ally.
Child Helpline International was established in 2003, and today is one of the world’s largest international collectives advocating for children and amplifying their voices.
Our founder, Jeroo Billimoria, began working with street children in India in the early 1990s, and saw that they needed access to more resources. She gave them her phone number to call whenever they needed help. Jeroo’s phone didn’t stop ringing. Her insight and actions led her to establish Childline India – India’s first and only child helpline.
Jeroo realised that a global network of child helplines could leverage the knowledge transfer to countries that wanted to launch their own services. In 2003, she brought together 49 child helplines from around the globe, and they established Child Helpline International – the world’s first network of child helplines.
Today, our child helpline members around the world field more than 15 million calls, chats, texts, letters and emails from children and young people every year. Children can talk with child helpline counsellors about the abuse, neglect, violence, poverty and exploitation they may be experiencing, their hopes and fears and the worries and concerns they might have, or simply because they need someone to talk to who will listen to them.
Child helplines listen to these children each and every day. As a result, they are uniquely placed to bring timely, pertinent data and stories to the world about children’s lives. Child Helpline International makes sure the world receives this data and listens to these stories. We also listen to our child helpline members, and help them to help one another.
Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.
Child Helpline International is working to create a world where the voices of children and young people are heard and taken into account. You can read more about our Theory of Change (ToC) here.
