116 111: Six digits to remember

Child helplines are free and confidential services for children and young people, where they can talk about anything they want, via phone, chat and other methods of communication. 116 111 is the number specially reserved for child helplines in Europe. Below you can see which members of Child Helpline International are the operators of the 116 111 number in their countries. You’ll also find the 116 111 badge on their member profile.

Ensuring that children and young people are aware of the 116 111 number and understand they can contact the helpline for confidential support and advice is of upmost importance. Awareness-raising and publicity efforts have to continue at national and regional levels.

Living in Europe and don’t see your child helpline? Click here to find more child helplines

The 116 111 number provides child helplines with a pan-European identity so that European citizens can be assured that calling the number will give them access to the same type of service in different Member States. This number is currently operational in 23 out of 27 Member States, and additionally in seven other European states.

The European Commission has identified child helplines as a service of social value, and the harmonised 116 111 number is an important part of a reporting system to tackle abuse and exploitation of children and young people. The Council of Europe has included child helplines in integrated national strategies to protect children from violence. For children and young people, having a short, easy-to-remember number is very important to make child helplines accessibleGovernments, children’s rights partner organisations, telecoms and industry partners should use their platforms to promote awareness of the 116 111 number to make sure that every child is heard.

Blogs about the 116 111 number

The Story of 116

Part Two: The Importance of Harmonised Numbers This year, we’re celebrating 16 years of 116 111 – the harmonised number for child helplines in Europe.

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The Story of 116 111

Part One: A Call for Harmonisation Today marks the 16th anniversary of the 116 xyz numbers – the numbers of social value in the European

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