Regulating digital spaces for child safety: a proposal for EU age restrictions for social media
Age restrictions on social media are not inherently problematic, but applied without safeguards, they risk exacerbating harm and disproportionately limiting children’s rights and agency. We propose below a proportionate and child-rights respecting policy approach to operationalize age restrictions. After over 4 years of continued effort by the EU to regulate online platforms, the real effects […]
Child helplines urge Irish EU Presidency to secure the future of Europe’s Safer Internet Centres
AMSTERDAM – Child Helpline International (CHI), INHOPE and Insafe, together with 26 organizations from 19 EU Member States and two neighbouring countries, are calling on the Irish Presidency and all EU institutions to help secure the future of Europe’s Safer Internet Centres. For more than two decades, Safer Internet Centres have been an integral part […]
A childhood free of exploitation
We need an ambitious DFA to protect our children and our future democracies
Big Tech is lobbying hard to weaken the EU’s upcoming Digital Fairness Act. And children across Europe will ultimately pay the price, should they succeed. Every day, more than 1,500 children contact child helplines across Europe with mental health concerns shaped by their experiences, both offline and online. These are not singular cases – they […]
Letter to the European Commission on Children’s Online Protection
Calling for children’s voices to shape EU digital policy
In December, Child Helpline International, together with our national members Børns Vilkår (Denmark) and BRIS (Sweden), sent a letter to President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission calling for children’s voices to be placed at the centre of EU policymaking on online safety. Drawing on direct insights from millions of contacts to child […]
The Livingstone Declaration
We, the members of the Child Helpline International network of child helplines, reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the rights and wellbeing of children and young people worldwide, on this occasion of the 11th International Consultation of Child Helplines in Livingstone, Zambia, June 2025. Guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, […]
Children & Young People Affected by the War in Ukraine
Child Helpline Data
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 14 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed borders seeking safety. Child helplines across Europe have expanded their services to cater to the needs of these individuals, offering Ukrainian-speaking counselling services. Together with our child helpline members in Ukraine (La Strada), Poland (FDDS), Hungary (Kék Vonal), Slovakia […]
Amplifying the Voices of Children & Young People in Europe
Key Insights from 2023 Child Helpline Data on Mental Health and Violence
This report brings together data from 2023 from 36 child helplines across Europe, highlighting the essential role they play in supporting children and young people through some of their most challenging experiences. The findings of this report reveal an urgent need for more robust support systems to address mental health and violence – two key […]
Supporting Children & Young People’s Mental Health in Europe
Mental health concerns are a major reason why children and young people contact child helplines in Europe. This report presents mental health-related contacts to 30 child helplines across Europe from 2019 to 2022. Child helplines are heavily involved in the prevention, promotion and protection of children’s mental health, through direct counselling, referrals, online campaigns, workshops […]
Addressing the Needs of Ukrainian Child Refugees
Insights from the Community and Country Reports
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 14 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed borders seeking safety, with Europe hosting around 6 million of them – primarily women and children. This has resulted in a high rate of family separation – about 70% – and has left children and young people particularly vulnerable […]