Every minute, every day, somewhere in the world, someone reaches out for help.
Sometimes it is an adult experiencing emotional distress or suicidal crisis.
Sometimes it is a child seeking safety, support or simply someone who will listen.
Different helplines answer those calls. Different organizations support those services. But behind them lies a shared belief: that everyone deserves someone to turn to in their darkest moment.
That belief has brought Child Helpline International and LifeLine International together in a new global partnership.
We are delighted to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between our two organizations, creating a framework for closer collaboration as we work to strengthen crisis helpline services around the world.
Two global networks. One shared purpose.
For more than two decades, Child Helpline International has brought together child helplines across the globe, helping to ensure that children and young people have somewhere safe to turn when they need advice, protection or simply someone to listen. Today, our network includes more than 150 child helplines in over 130 countries and territories, making us the world’s largest collective of child helpline services.
Established in 1966, LifeLine International plays a similarly vital role, bringing together 40 member organizations across 31 countries committed to ensuring that everyone has access to compassionate crisis support and to reducing deaths by suicide worldwide.
Together, our two networks represent almost 200 organizations dedicated to one simple but profoundly important idea: that no one should have to face a crisis alone.
Stronger together
Although our work focuses on different stages of life, the challenges people face do not exist in isolation.
Mental health, trauma, violence, loneliness, abuse and crisis are not issues that suddenly begin – or end – at any particular age. The experiences of childhood can shape adulthood, while the systems that support people are strongest when they work together.
That is why this partnership matters.
By combining our expertise, Child Helpline International and LifeLine International will be able to learn from one another, share knowledge and evidence, strengthen our global advocacy, and champion the essential role that crisis helplines play within mental health and psychosocial support systems worldwide.
Together, we can make a stronger case for investment in crisis helplines, for sustainable support services, and for ensuring that people can always find help when they need it most.
More than a signature
This agreement is not about changing who we are.
Child Helpline International will continue to champion children’s rights and support child helplines around the world. LifeLine International will continue to lead global efforts to strengthen crisis support and suicide prevention.
What changes is our ability to work together.
The MoU creates opportunities for closer collaboration on international advocacy, policy engagement, shared learning and the exchange of expertise. It also reflects a shared ambition to ensure that crisis helplines are recognised as an essential part of health, mental health and psychosocial support systems across the life course.
Looking Ahead
The challenges facing our societies are becoming increasingly complex. Humanitarian crises, conflict, climate-related disasters, digital harms and growing mental health needs all place greater demands on helpline services.
No single organization can address these challenges alone.
But by bringing together the global voices of child helplines and crisis helplines, we can strengthen the services that millions of people rely upon every year – and help ensure that everyone, regardless of their age or circumstances, has somewhere to turn in their moment of need.
Because when organizations work together, the people they serve stand to benefit most.
Helen Mason
Executive Director
Child Helpline International
Thilini Perera
Chief Executive Officer
LifeLine International