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International and Regional Consultations

An International Consultation, or IC, is an event that we organize, together with one of our child helpline members who hosts the event, once every three years. The most recent event was the 10th International Consultation of Child Helplines held in Stockholm, Sweden, in September 2022.

A Regional Consultation, or RC, is a similar event and usually occurs during the year prior to an IC. Five Regional Consultations run consecutively for each of our five regions: Africa, Americas & The Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East & North Africa (MENA), and each is hosted by one of our child helpline members operating in each region.

The main objectives of the ICs and RCs are to facilitate the sharing of ideas, learning, experiences and best practice between our members, and to create a platform to discuss how child helplines are integral to child rights, including violence against children and mental health. Many significant achievements have been made possible due to past ICs and RCs, including enhanced recognition of the role of child helplines as essential services in providing frontline support to children and young people, an expansion of the assistance provided to children, and the creation of new child helplines.

Both the ICs and the RCs are primarily targeted towards our member child helplines. The IC is open to all members around the world, while RCs are intended for child helplines operating in each specific region. Both events are also open, upon invitation, to prospective members, child protection and children’s rights organizations, youth organizations, government representatives, regional and international bodies, telecoms and technology industry partners, foundations, intergovernmental entities, philanthropic organizations and other partner organizations of Child Helpline International, the hosting child helpline member, and other participating child helplines.

We explore and agree the overarching theme of each of these events with the child helpline member hosting the event. The programme, which is based on the needs of our child helpline members, typically includes plenary sessions (featuring keynote speeches made by members, partners and hosts on the specific theme of the event), workshop sessions (offering practice-based and discussion-based sessions to encourage learning and knowledge exchange between child helplines), and site visits to the hosting child helpline member. 

Potential hosts must be a full member of Child Helpline International and are subject to the approval of Child Helpline International’s Supervisory Board. All applications must be submitted to the Executive Director, Patrick Krens at patrick@childhelplineinternational.org

The next IC is scheduled to take place in 2025, and the next series of RCs are scheduled to take place across 2023 and 2024. The Regional Consultation of Africa was co-hosted by Childline Botswana in September 2023. 

If you are an existing child helpline member and you are interested in hosting a Regional Consultations in 2024 in the Americas & The Caribbean, in Asia-Pacific or in Europe, then we’d love to hear from you! 

See the Terms of References below for more information around what goes into coordinating an International Consultation or Regional Consultation:

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