IC 2018:THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION OF CHILD HELPLINES

TORONTO, CANADA6-8 NOVEMBER 2018

IC2018: THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION OF CHILD HELPLINES

Edited and produced by Steve Erwood and Laura Holliday

We would like to acknowledge the following people who have contributed to the creation of this report:

Sheila Donovan, Jeroen Jansen, Richard Ombono, Ronja Ulvfot and our staff, volunteers and interns at Child Helpline International, and the team at Kids Help Phone

Published February 2019 by Child Helpline International Pilotenstraat 20-221059CJ AmsterdamThe Netherlands

childhelplineinternational.org

This publication was co-funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014- 2020). The content of this publication represents only the views of the and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

3

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 4

2. IC2018 AGENDA 6

3. SESSIONS 8

Day 1: Tuesday 6 November 3.1 Inauguration 10 3.2 Press conference 11 3.3 Role of governments in supporting young people 12 3.4 Opening our minds to inclusive technologies and child helplines - paving the way 14 3.5 Social media - a catalyst to ignite youth participation 16 3.6 Media and Kids: How can helplines harness media more powerfully? 18 3.7 Influencing change: forming partnerships with vloggers and bloggers 19 3.8 Telecoms session: overcoming obstacles, exploring opportunities 20

Day 2: Wednesday 7 November 3.9 Regional Spaces 22 3.10 Design Workshop Childline OneLine 23 3.11 Advocacy and influence for child protection - national to global connection 24 3.12 General assembly of Child Helplines 26

Day 3: Thursday 8 November 3.13 Child helpline visit: a virtual tour 30 3.14 Youth forum 30 3.15 Harnessing big data and artificial intelligence 32 3.16 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and chatbots 32 3.17 Open Spaces 34 3.18 Closure 36

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS 38

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

1. INTRODUCTION The 2018 International Consultation was inspiring, moving, informative, collaborative and celebratory. Thanks to Kids Help Phone for their magnificent organisation. I would especially like to thank the young people who participated so generously with their time and ideas, and for being such an inspiration to us all.

Members and partners were critical to the event’s success and reach. They were unselfish in sharing their insights, experiences and information. This event would have been unthinkable without their participation.

This report summarises each session of the International Consultation. It was compiled using the notes taken by Child Helpline International and Kids Help Phone staff as the sessions took place - thanks to them all for their diligence and the accuracy of their minutes.

Happy reading, and warm regards!

Sheila DonovanInterim Executive DirectorChild Helpline International

55

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to host the 2018 International Consultation of Child Helplines. It was a true pleasure to collaborate with the team at Child Helpline International and an honour to work alongside other helplines who envision a world where young people access the support they need and deserve.

Kids and technology are changing faster than ever before. By coming together, we can leverage our collective expertise, experience and focus on the power of data to continue to meet youth where they are today and in the future.

Collaboration between Child Helpline International’s #Youth and Kids Help Phone’s National Youth Council members brought months of remote planning to life and we took away an important message from these incredible youth leaders: it is critical to engage them in our strategic direction as we shift in innovation.

Thank you to Child Helpline International and to the delegates for making this an unforgettable experience.

Katherine HayPresident and CEOKids Help Phone

5

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

2. IC2018 AGENDA TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER

08:45-09:45 Inauguration

09:45-10:00 Press conference: set up and preparations

10:00-10:45 Press conference

10:45-11:45 Role of governments in supporting young people

11:45-12:00 Break

12:00-13:00 Opening our minds to inclusive technologies and child helplines – paving the way

13:00-14:00 Networking lunch

14:00-15:30 Social media – a catalyst to ignite youth participation

15:30-16:00 Break

16:00-17:30 • Media and Kids: How can child helplines harness media more powerfully?

• Influencing change: forming partnerships with vloggers and bloggers

• Telecoms session: overcoming obstacles, exploring opportunities

7

WEDNESDAY 7 NOVEMBER

09:00-11:00 Regional Spaces

11:00-11:30 Break

11:30-13:00 Design workshop Childline Online

13:00-14:00 Networking lunch

14:00-15:30 Advocacy and influence for child protection – national to global connection

15:30-16:00 Break

16:00-17:30 General Assembly of Child Helplines

THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER

09:00-11:00 Child helpline visit: a virtual tour

11:00-11:30 Break

11:30-13:00 Youth forum

13:00-14:00 Networking lunch

14:00-15:30 • Harnessing big data and artificial intelligence (AI)• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and chat

bots

15:30-16:30 Open Spaces

16:30-17:00 Closure

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3. SESSIONS The Ninth International Consultation of Child Helplines (IC 2018), held in Toronto, Canada, from 6 to 8 November 2018, brought together government officials, ministers, high-level partners and members of the Child Helpline International network from all around the world. The event - the first International Consultation to be held in the Americas and the Caribbean region - was hosted by Kids Help Phone.

The themes for the IC 2018 were:

• How we use technology to scale services and to promote inclusion• The best use of technology • Technology to protect young people

During the event, we focussed on how communications technology can be inclusive and participatory as well as far-reaching. Children’s well-being is the core of our common mission, and technology in all its uses and manifestations is at the essence of how children and young people communicate with our members.

The IC 2018 presented a vital opportunity for members of the Child Helpline International network to exchange ideas, standards, best practices and experiences while learning from young people, experts, partners and government officials.

An overview of all sessions explored during the IC 2018 follows. You can view the original PowerPoint presentations, where available, by clicking wherever you see the PowerPoint icon:

999

Day 1:Tuesday 6 November

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.1 Inauguration

Participants at the IC 2018 were warmly welcomed by:

• Katherine Hay, President and CEO at Kids Help Phone;• Elder Gary Sault; • Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant

Governor of Ontario; and• Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada (by means of a welcome

video).

Their welcome messages touched on the power of communication technologies when reaching out to children, especially in the ever-changing landscape of child protection services.

Indigenous Elder Gary Sault welcomed everyone by means of a song underlining the importance of opening the door to understanding. Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell touched upon the importance of engaging in thoughtful conversations, particularly within the focus of mental health, reminding everyone of the need to be proactive in breaking down the stigmas surrounding mental health through harnessing the technology for the service of others.

Finally, Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed the IC 2018 participants to Canada, and acknowledged the great impact of child helplines in keeping children safe and protected.

Watch Justin Trudeau’s welcoming address on the Child Helpline International Facebook page.

111111

Moderator Katherine Hay President and CEO, Kids Help Phone

Speakers Charles Brown Board, Chair, Kids Help Phone

Jeroo Billimoria Founder and Special Advisor to the Chair, Child Helpline International

Matthew McLaughlin National Youth Council Co-Chair, Kids Help Phone

Jessica Smith Policy Associate, Facebook

During the panel discussion, speakers responded to a series of questions posed by Katherine. They discussed:

• The journey that Child Helpline International has been on since its inception.

• Kids Help Phone’s pioneering work of the past 30 years and what the next 30 years will, including partnering with Crisis Text Line.

• Facebook’s navigation through the field of child online protection and ensuring a diversity of views.

• The continued investment that is required to better engage with the today’s youth as key stakeholders.

• The continued support that Child Helpline International will provide to child helplines worldwide to ensure that every child in need has a child helpline that they can access.

3.2 Press conference

Speakers Katherine Hay President and CEO, Kids Help Phone

Alisa Simon Vice President, Kids Help Phone

Darren Mastrapaolo Director, Crisis Text Line International

Charles Brown Board Chair, Kids Help Phone

Michael Green President and CEO, Infoway

This session served as the formal press launch of Kids Help Phone’s Crisis Text Line service, in both English and French, across Canada. The service is supported by Crisis Text Line International (based in the US), and Kids Help Phone’s partner Canada Health Infoway. Developed to meet the requirements of children contacting Kids Help Phone (who required more ways of contacting the organisation other than by telephone), the service was piloted in Manitoba, a tremendously diverse province, and grew quickly.

The service currently averages around 1,000 contacts a week: 80% of users found their conversation helpful; 87% felt better after using the service; 81% would recommend the service to others; 60% had never shared their problems with anyone before; and 70% would have ignored their issues altogether without the service to rely on. Finally, 7% of users would probably have ended up in an emergency room had they not been able to contact the crisis text line – on average, 1 or 2 “rescues” are effected on the service every day.

Crisis Text Line - presentation by Darren Mastropaolo

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.3 Role of governments in supporting young people

Moderator Ilya Smirnov Executive Director, Childline Thailand

Speakers Marta Santos Pais

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children

Deborah Owusu-Akyeeah

Policy Analyst, Global Issues & Development, Global Affairs Canada (GAC)

Ramatoulaye Ndao Diouf

Special Representative of the President of Senegal and Director of the Cellule d’Appui a la Protection de l’Enfance

Marta Santos Pais opened the session with an overview of her office’s learnings about what governments can and must do to make a difference around the world. These included:• a comprehensive action plan to combat violence against children; • strong legislation with the clear and explicit message that no form of

violence is acceptable; and• data and studies into, for example, what the drivers of violence and

abuse are.

Another key area for governments in supporting young people and ending violence against children is technology and its uses for good and for bad - and Ms. Santos Pais cited cyberbullying especially in this context.

Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah explained that the Canadian Government’s policy is that ending violence is key to overall peaceful societies. Canada has a feminist international assistance policy, and gender equality is at the centre of its international policy. One of the priorities for its international policy is ending violence against women and girls. Canada is a partner in the Global Partnership to End Violence, and endorses the INSPIRE strategies. GAC emphasises peace and security in conflict and post conflict settings and access to services in those areas.

Ramatoulaye Ndao Diouf stated that the issue of rights of the child in Senegal had been dispersed among many organisations and ministries, so in 2013 the issue was elevated to Presidency level in order to coordinate and action solutions. The country is developing a National Plan and coordination, to be implemented in stages over the next five years. Holding this authority and service at the Presidency level in Senegal is very important to oversee the actions, and to protect children who comprise half of the country’s population. It was especially interesting to note that Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - the right to be heard – has been part of Senegal’s Constitution since 2001.

12

1313

In response to a question about protecting children in their “trusted places” – at school or at home, for example – Ms. Santos Pais brought up the issue of corporal punishment. Still legal in many countries, under some national legislations teachers are even provided with guidance on how to punish children physically. Children replicate the violence they see happening at home and at school, and subsequently being bullied by their peers is one of the top reasons children contact a helpline. How kids are bullied and excluded – the multiplier effect – and particularly in the context of social media, is something that governments should be concerned about. Governments therefore have a role to play in encouraging better research.

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

14

3.4 Opening our minds to inclusive technologies and child helplines – paving the way

Moderator Natasha Jackson Head of Public Policy & Consumer Affairs, GSMA

Speakers Ricardo Wagner Senior Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft Canada

Ziba Vaghri Director of GlobalChild Program of Research & Development, and Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria

Jenny Thornton International Development Manager, Internet Watch Foundation

Michael Marwa Director, The National Child Helpline of C-SEMA

This session served to introduce the audience to three organisations or partnerships which are approaching the issue of accessibility through the use of inclusive technologies.

Ricardo Wagner touched upon the need for inclusive design when supporting children who have different abilities. At present, there are 1 billion people worldwide who are born with a disability, 70% of which are “invisible”. Technology presents a means to unlock the rights of children, and one example is Microsoft’s PhotoDNA tool, which creates a photographic fingerprint that can help to identify missing children. Many of these technologies are free for child helplines to use.

1515

Ziba Vaghri’s presentation highlighted the need to distinguish between the rights holders and the duty bearers. GlobalChild is a tool to help “translate” the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) so that it is easier for governments to use and implement in their country. GlobalChild has 17 indicator sets with three sets of questions behind structure, process and outcome. GlobalChild is a 10-year initiative that will work alongside governments to reshape the indicators surrounding children’s rights.

Jenny Thornton and Michael Marwa presentation touched on the partnership undertaken between the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and C-SEMA in establishing a reporting portal to help citizens of Tanzania to report content containing child sexual exploitation or abuse. Tanzania’s portal was launched in October 2017 and is completely free for citizens and law enforcement to use. The IWF currently has 25 portals worldwide, 10 of which operate in sub-Saharan Africa. Jenny highlighted the importance of national actors leading the dialogues themselves as they know the context best.

Finally, the discussion arising from various questions from the audience centred on the relationship between offline and online space, how the IWF hopes to expand its work to the western coast of Africa with financial help from the Global Fund to End Violence Against Children, and how the GSMA hopes to become more active in Francophone Africa as capacity building programmes are translated into French.

Presentation

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.5 Social media – a catalyst to ignite youth participation

Moderator Nina Kain Coordinator, Community & Youth Engagement, Kids Help Phone

Speakers Mark Jordan VP Brand Strategy & Chief Communications Officer, Kids Help Phone

Chelsea Mulvale Community & Youth Engagement Coordinator, WeMatter/Facebook partnership

Jessie Brar Mental Health Advocate, Jack.org

Jason He Supervisor, Kidsline and #Youth Advisory Council, Child Helpline International

Levi Meulensteen Regional Manager, De Kindertelefoon

Mark Jordan, Brand Strategy and Chief Communications Officer at Kids Help Phone, kicked off the session by describing the different ways in which Kids Help Phone engages with youth, including a Youth Advisory Council that functions as a sounding board for the management team and provides input on the organisation’s way forward. Other youth engagement activities include workshops and focus groups, school clubs, and evaluation by youth of the services Kids Help Phone provides. Its social media channels are a core component for interacting with the children and young people it serves. Social media can also be harnessed to mobilise the country behind youth, and in particular around work on youth mental health issues. Mark also acknowledged that social media can have both good and bad impacts on children and young people, making it extremely importance that these channels are being used in the most positive way possible.

Jessie Brar, a mental health advocate from jack.org, told the audience about her experiences with mental health among Canada’s South Asian communities, and how jack.org is changing the mental health space. Jessie’s path to becoming a mental health advocate was grounded in her wish to talk to someone who looked like her, a representative from her own community. She came across jack.org, where she saw how young leaders were connecting with each other and talking about mental health. Jack.org started the campaign #dosomething to show what youth across Canada are doing to raise awareness about mental health across the country. Jessie’s advice on how to ignite youth participation is to find or create places where youth can connect and involve youth in the conversation through social media. She emphasised the importance to youth of having a community that can support them, and that this community can exist online.

Chelsea Mulvale, Community and Youth Engagement Coordinator, told her story of how the social media campaign #WeMatter developed into a youth-led national movement creating more visibility around mental health and indigenous youth, ultimately improving the resources available. In the summer of 2017, WeMatter and Facebook established a partnership to create more visibility around indigenous youth mental health and provide support resources. For example, indigenous youth posted the hashtag #strongertogether on Facebook for National Suicide Prevention Day. They are also working together on a public awareness project, in which indigenous youth talk about how they find hope. WeMatter hosted a roundtable with the Minister of Indigenous Services, at which 12 calls of action were presented by the youth. WeMatter is currently working together on a regional Hope Forum in Ontario, to support life promotion projects.

16

17

Jason He, Supervisor at Kidsline and Youth Advisory Council member of Child Helpline International, reflected on his own experiences of being a youth working at Kidsline, New Zealand, how young people engage with social media, the stigma around child helplines that needs to change, and how we can achieve this together. His full speech can be found here.

Levi Meulensteen, Regional Manager from De Kindertelefoon in the Netherlands, described the organisation’s process for creating a platform offering peer-to-peer support. De Kindertelefoon noticed that many young people wanted to talk to other young people who could relate directly to them, and the decision was made to train children to provide counselling. The project started with peer volunteers aged between 15 and 19 to respond to contacts via live chat. The main topics for this peer-to-peer chat are sex and relationships. The project has paved the way for other youth participation projects within the organisation, including outreach, an online youth panel and youth forums.

17

De Kindertelefoon Presentation

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.6 Media and Kids: How can child helplines harness media more powerfully?

Moderator Eric Ehm Influencer

Speakers Rosalie “Jing” Castaneda-Velasco

Bantay Bata 163

Alyson Schafer Therapist and parenting expert

Gayle Brown Kids Help Phone

Jing Castaneda-Velasco from Bantay Bata 163 in the Philippines discussed the relationship between media and advocacy in order to create social impact. Media can be a very powerful ally, but it is important that media adapt their message to a child and youth audience. Media can support in several ways, bringing attention to emerging key issues facing children and youth. Mental health, for example, is one such issue, whereby media can minimise the stigma associated with mental health by providing accurate and accessible information. Jing further emphasised the importance of social media as a channel through which to reach out. Traditional media can be expensive and its reach can be limited, whereas social media is a great equaliser, is free and is accessible. Jing uses her personal platform, which has over 1 million followers, to promote positive parenting practices and children’s rights. She urged NGOs to create compelling content, and build relationship with media outlets to get advocacy messages across and reach the general public.

Alyson Schafer focussed on information sharing on social media and how to compose the “message” that will reach parents. She specifically focussed on bullying in the Canadian context, noting that while problems are being identified they are not being dealt with. Alyson further stated that the wider context is not being addressed, and that all institutions who come in contact with children and young people need to pull their weight. Alyson’s advice was to find ways to consistently push messages through social media channels, making sure to cultivate certain relationships to maintain engagement.

Gayle Brown focussed her presentation on connecting with young people online. Kids Help Phone moved from a telephone only service to also include a live chat service in 2011. Kids Help Phone have focussed on using inclusive, youth-centred language, and also learned from children and young people how they best connect to a service.

18

Bantay Bata 163 Presentation

3.7 Influencing change: forming partnerships with vloggers and bloggers

Moderator Megan Van Massenhoven

Outreach Manager, Kids Help Phone

Speakers Scott Ste Marie YouTuber and Founder, Depression to Expression

Alicia Raimundo Project Coordinator, Foundry

Levi Meulensteen Regional Manager, De Kindertelefoon

Stephen Hooper Ambassador, Kids Help Phone

The panellists were asked to describe occasions when they had enjoyed a particularly good partnership, and general consensus was that effective partnerships were those in which the bloggers and vloggers were expected to remain independent and not simply say or do what they were told to.

Levi Meulensteen was asked about De Kindertelefoon’s GEO campaign, where five “reality shows” were scripted to create awareness about the child helpline service. Overall, de Kindertelefoon’s programme helped to remove stigmas and create awareness about the services the child helpline provides to children and youth living in the Netherlands.

There was some discussion around ensuring that content remained safe and real, and reasons why the gaming community should also be engaged rather than simply ignored. They advised fellow influencers to be themselves when trying to get a message across.

The key takeaway resulting from this session was that child helplines should develop strong(er) partnerships with bloggers and vloggers, who are key influencers in steering young people in need towards the organisations who can hear their concerns. However, the panel recommended that individuals should first seek to establish a relationship with bloggers and vloggers before they make their “ask”, and also to be prepared to receive a “no” with grace.

19

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.8 Telecoms session: overcoming obstacles, exploring opportunities

Moderator Natasha Jackson Head of Public Policy & Consumer Affairs, GSMA

Speakers Jenny Jones Public Policy Director, GMSA

Florence Chileshe-Nkhuwa

Executive Director, Lifeline/Childline Zambia

Djordesem Sevjid Director of Government Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility, Mobicom Corporation LLC

Key messages from this session were that operators could be very competitive, but they should aim to work together. Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) are very important when developing relationships between operators and helplines.

Florence talked about how the MOU between ZICTA and Lifeline/Childline Zambia in 2015 had strengthened the two organisations’ partnership. Surveys carried out by ZICTA help Childline Zambia to better understand perception, awareness and the pattern of usage of their services. They receive approximately 600 calls a day on average (the population of Zambia being roughly 15 million people). 116 was declared as the emergency number in Zambia, and broadcast by bulk SMS to subscribers of mobile network operators in the country in order to increase awareness of the number.

The Mongolian child helpline also has a short code (108), which is similarly declared to be an emergency number. Mobicom provides software, hardware and coding to the helpline.

Audience discussion raised the following further points:

• Operators and helplines can work together across the world with a focus on child protection in various ways, including helpline numbers being declared as emergency (thus, toll-free) numbers, providing short codes etc.

• It is important that child helpline services are offered for free, so as not to dissuade young people from using the services.

• It is important to keep in mind what is legal and ethical in each helpline’s own country, as rules on advertising differ from country to country.

Audience members were also curious as to how accessible the toll-free helpline numbers would be to youth reaching out from bordering countries (or communities lying on the border); and whether or not it would be possible for helpline numbers to be pre-loaded into SIM cards.

20

ZICTA Telecoms Presentation

21

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

Day 2:Wednesday 7 November

3.9 Regional Spaces

During the Regional Spaces, we broke off into five groups to provide the membership with some organisation and programmatic updates from Child Helpline International, engage in discussion concerning the regional focusses over the last two years and come to a consensus concerning the new Regional and Deputy Regional Representatives for the period of 2018 to 2020. The details of these discussions will be touched upon during the General Assembly session.

Africa Stella Motsi National Director, Childline Zimbabwe

Sheila Donovan Interim Executive Director, Child Helpline International

Americas & the Caribbean

Alisa Simon Vice President, Service Innovation & Chief Youth Officer, Kids Help Phone

Laura Holliday Project Coordinator, Child Helpline International

Asia Pacific Ilya Smirnov Executive Director, Childline Thailand

Steve Erwood Membership Manager, Child Helpline International

Europe Rasmus Kjeldahl Executive Director, Børns Vilkår

Ronja Ulvfot Inclusion Manager, Child Helpline International

Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

Ola Al Omari Child Helpline Supervisor, Jordan River Foundation

Jeroen Jansen Interim Operations Director, Child Helpline International

Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe MENA

2323

3.10 Design Workshop Childline OneLine

Speakers Jeroo Billimoria Founder, One Family Foundation / Child Helpline International

Jim Fruchterman Founder & CEO, Benetech

OneLine aims at leveraging technology to enhance child protection systems. This session served to gauge the interest of Child Helpline International’s members in co-creating OneLine, and to determine an action plan for doing so. Jeroo presented the findings of a survey that had been undertaken with members, including questions around the various challenges they faced in using current technologies and their ideals for how technology and data could improve the quality of their services.

OneLine Presentation

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.11 Advocacy and influence for child protection – national to global connection

Moderator Chilobe Kambikambi

Director of Program Operations, Save the Children Zambia

Speakers Kent Page Senior Advisor of Strategic Communications, Office of SRSG VAC

Vanessa Saraiva Programs & Policy, Child Protection Technical Specialist, World Vision Canada

Rocio Aznar Daban

Child Protection Specialist Prevention & Response to Violence against Children

Rasa Sekulovic Regional Head of Child Protection and Partnership, Plan International Asia Regional Office

Thomas Mueller Deputy Executive Director / Network Development & External Relations, ECPAT International

Kent Page described 2019 as a key strategic moment with regards to Sustainable Development Goal 16.2. The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held in July 2019, which will look at empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality, as well as discussion on progress of SDG 16.2. There are numerous ongoing processes gathering data on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda Summit will be held in September to review what has been achieved. Finally, 2019 is the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – a key opportunity for advocacy.

Thomas Mueller from ECPAT International emphasised the need for organisations to engage in voluntary national reviews on one or several global indicators, including sharing collected data and evaluation practices. Organisations can go to https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/, find their country and check progress and reporting and identify how to influence the process. Thomas further described ECPAT International’s contribution through its Global Study in Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, where global, regional and national data is available. ECPAT International has contributed with expertise to creating global indicators on this topic and to harmonise terminology to facilitate global dialogue.

One of the priority areas for ending violence against children described by Rocio Aznar Daban of UNICEF was the strengthening of public financing for child protection. There is ongoing research into what effects violence against children has on a country’s GDP. and this research can be used to improve budget requests and ensure sufficient public resources are available to end violence against children. Public financing is also key to ensuring the sustainability of child helpline services in many countries.

Vanessa Saraiva of World Vision Canada emphasised the importance of a systems approach to transform norms and attitudes, empower children, strengthen services and improve laws and accountability. Vanessa proposed three core aspects of addressing violence against children: addressing the root cause, building capacity and working in collaboration.

24

The role of child helplines within national child protection systems was discussed. Rocio noted that the overall impact of child helplines is part of, but also dependent upon, the development of national child protection systems. Child helplines might face case management challenges, including lack of referral routes or these routes only existing in specific districts and not on a national level. Another issue was children not seeking support from child helplines because of the stigma and risk of revictimisation.

Rasa Sekulovic outlined the 10-year partnership between Child Helpline International and Plan International. This partnership has included creating child helplines, strengthening their services, and conducting studies and joint advocacy. The core aspects of the partnership today are to promote gender equality to end violence against children, to strengthen child protection systems to conduct evidence-based advocacy projects, and to support child helplines and community-based child protection mechanisms in humanitarian emergency situations.

All speakers emphasised the importance of child helpline data in measuring progress against the Sustainable Development Goals. However, building capacity in data collection for child helplines is still essential. Rocio pointed out that systems for data collection might only exist in certain districts, and therefore a national picture of the issues facing children was not always provided. Rasa observed that core focus areas for the partnership between Child Helpline International and Plan International are to support structures in humanitarian emergencies for collection and to disseminate child helpline data to other key humanitarian actors. Vanessa described child helpline data as an invaluable source of evidence for influence and advocacy.

25

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.12 General Assembly of Child Helplines

Moderator Jaap E Doek Board Chair, Child Helpline International

Speakers Jeroen Jansen Interim Operations Director, Child Helpline International

Stella Motsi Regional Representative, Africa (Childline Zimbabwe)

Alisa Simon Deputy Regional Representative, Americas & The Caribbean(Kids Help Phone)

Ilya Smirnov Acting on behalf of the Regional Representative, Asia Pacific (Childline Thailand)

Rasmus Kjeldahl Regional Representative, Europe(Børns Vilkår)

Jaap Doek formally opened the General Assembly, welcoming all the delegates and acknowledging the work of Kids Help Phone’s staff and volunteers, who were duly applauded.

Jeroen Jansen presented the new Quality Standards. He described the roles of the Quality Assurance Child Helplines Advisory Council (QACHAC), and outlined the benefits of having shared quality standards. He explained how the existing tool had been streamlined and simplified, and how principles had been gathered into four main categories. Child helplines, including those not present at the IC 2018, were invited to participate in the pilot exercise to be run in the first quarter(s) of 2019.

Jaap invited reports back from the Regional Spaces, and the first thinking about the strategy of the organisation.

Stella Motsi stated that the Africa region had gained and benefitted from a lot of support from Child Helpline International in terms of activities in the region, and was impressed with the level of Child Helpline International’s engagement in the region. The region was keen that this should continue, and that members could continue to contribute to the strategic plan. Their recommendations, (1) we look at and develop our “niche” (2) we make sure that we expand our use of ICT and that (3) we focus on data and the importance we can bring to the world through it. It is important that we should analyse this data and not just present it raw. Finally, we need to maintain our network, but also expand our horizons and build on other partnerships in government, telecoms and so on – and all partnerships (citing the example of Boston Pizza, sponsors of the IC 2018).

Alisa Simon reported that the Americas & Caribbean region felt there was a need for more opportunities for knowledge-sharing: ICs and Regional Consultations were not enough to achieve the level of knowledge-sharing they wanted; an example being a helpline developing an app that didn’t work, whereas they could have benefitted from the experience of others if they had been able to do so effectively. Quarterly thematic meetings were suggested. Another issue was how to save money by working together, particularly concerning technology; for example, a community-building among helplines of a particular app rather than each helpline reinventing the wheel; this both benefits but can involve (even in leadership) the smaller helplines. Exchange of best practices and communicating more was recommended – opportunities to share not only technology but development of materials (for example, translating existing tools and resources to make them fit and relevant for other localities). There is a need to improve storytelling

26

27

capacities. They also talked about building systems that benefit cross-border interconnected issues (for instance, children on the move). They also recommend that there should be youth representation in the actual work/development of a helpline and its work. They also touched on the need for more data, evaluation of their services, and sharing the tools and knowhow to achieve this. Finally, ensure the strength and stability of the network; helplines connect with each other, but it is important that smaller connections are nurtured and built into the wider, stronger network.

Ilya Smirnov, on behalf of the Asia-Pacific region, reported that discussion in the group had been about the building of a knowledge hub, and building connections with other organisations such as Plan, World Vision and ECPAT, and how this might even extend to non-aligned organisations. Child Helpline International was seen as “network capital” and there was discussion as to how we could use this. Something we could achieve with not too much investment would be a media strategy that enhanced our outreach; each member sharing relevant stories to the Child Helpline International web pages perhaps two or three times a month, so that it reflected stories from around the network.

Rasmus Kjeldahl reported back on the European region. Discussion had revolved around when child helplines really get value from Child Helpline International. The ability of members to transfer best practices was central to this, but technological challenges, legal questions and questions about data were ever present; so in the future there would be an even greater need for the network to be able to share information on how to overcome these types of challenges. The European child helplines would like to see the origins of Child Helpline International revisited – it was created to make its members great! They also wanted to ensure that the financial health of the organisation, and its (economic) sustainability, was carefully considered.

27

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

At the moment there are only projects, and these are difficult to fund – this affects the stability of the organisations; sources of core income need to be found. There was a call for a closed session of Full Members to discuss these issues further at the end of the General Assembly.

There was no report back from the Middle East & North Africa region, but Jeroen explained the circumstances around this (only three members were physically present at the IC 2018). Discussion mirrored that in the Americas in that communication among regional members was a big issue, with interaction decreasing over last years; members agreed further investment

should be made in helplines discussing their common issues. Special reference was made to the initiative through which Sawa and The Smile of the Child had collaborated in the last years.

The new Regional Representatives and Deputies for four of the five regions were announced. (The announcement concerning the appointment of representatives for the MENA region was made the following day). The Regional Representatives and Deputies for the coming two-year period are shown below.

28

Africa Americas & the Caribbean

Asia Pacific Europe Middle East & North Africa

Regional Representative

Florence Nkhuwa Lifeline/Childline Zambia

Licia Martinez Vasquez Fono Ayuda, Paraguay

Sok Phay Sean Child Helpline Cambodia

Levi MeulensteenDe Kindertelefoon, Netherlands

Mansour Al Saadi AMAN, Qatar

Deputy Regional Representative(s)

Bernardus Harageib Lifeline/Childline Namibia

Tatiana Mejía Ramirez PANI, Costa Rica

Errol Zebeda Telefon pa Hubentud, Aruba

Madhav PradhanCWIN, Nepal

Magnus JägerskogBRIS, Sweden

Ohaila ShomarSawa, Palestine

During this session, Jaap thanked the outgoing Regional Representatives and their Deputies (including those not present), and invited the new Regional Representatives and Deputies to join the Supervisory Board on the stage.

29

Quality Standards Presentation

On Wednesday 7 November 2018, Child Helpline International and The Internet Watch Foundation organised a workshop that brought together child helplines who already have a reporting portal for online child sexual exploitation and abuse materials that is active in their country, and child helplines who are entitled to a fully-funded portal in their country. This meeting also provided an opportunity to connect with stakeholders who work to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse at the global level. The objective of the workshop was to gather feedback relating to the portals and to brainstorm ideas on how to connect the work of child helplines and portals more closely.

IWF Infographic

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

Day 3:Thursday 8 November

3.13 Child helpline visit: a virtual tour

Moderator Alisa Simon Vice President, Kids Help Phone

This session provided a practical and insightful example of how Kids Help Phone operates as a leading child protection service in Canada. Participants were able to watch a specially made video giving them a peek into the daily life of a child helpline counsellor. Following this, they could make their way around various booths that Kids Help Phone had set up at the IC 2018 venue, with Kids Help Phone’s staff and volunteers providing short presentations, briefings and answering questions. The presentations related to all aspects of the organisation’s work, including administration, fundraising, counsellors and support to counsellors.

3.14 Youth forum

Moderator Phyllis Huang National Youth Council, Kids Help Phone

Speakers Mehul Gupta National Youth Council, Kids Help Phone

Marian McLean National Youth Council, Kids Help Phone

Divyansh Dev Youth Advisory Council, Child Helpline International

Sara Brari Youth Advisory Council, Child Helpline International

Alicia Raimundo Project Coordinator, Foundry

Shayan Yazdanpanah

Student Leader / Programs Intern, Jack.org

3131

Youth participation is key in organisations working with children and young people. It can improve availability and quality of mental health support, and raise awareness among children and young people. Furthermore, youth participation can help identify needs of children and youth that have not been met. There was consensus that youth are often more aware of how to reach other youth, especially in relation to ever-increasing technological development. The key lessons learnt were:

• (New) technologies are an integral part of the everyday lives of youth. • All youth should be asked about what their needs are, and this should

inform services for children and youth. • Young people should be consulted on technical trends and best ways of

approaching their peers. • It’s importance to understand the changes in language of young people. • Child helplines need to adapt more to the new routes of communicating

with children and young people. Phone calls might not be the most suitable mode of contact, chat is increasingly popular. Also important to advertise services on the right social media channels.

• Young people should be provided a platform to identify and speak up about the needs of their peers.

• Youth should have access to a meaningful space to participate in decision-making in organisations – young people should be entrusted with institutional power.

• To involve young people to a larger extent, in particular those who are less engaged, it is important to seek out young people and provide tools and training to build confidence to speak up.

• Be aware of risks of tokenism in youth participation. • Young people must be compensated for their participation – for

example cover all costs.

You can watch a live stream of the Youth forum here.

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.15 Harnessing big data and artificial intelligence

Moderator Alisa Simon Vice President, Kids Help Phone

Speakers Abigail Carter-Langford

Executive Director of Health Information Governance & Chief Privacy Officer, Infoway

Darren Mastrapaolo Director, Crisis Text Line International

During this session, we were introduced to the work of Canada Health Infoway, a not-for-profit organisation tasked with accelerating the adoption of digital health solutions. Infoway is accountable to 14 federal, provincial and territorial governments across Canada. By using the myHealth Gateway, Infoway provides access to personal health information and digital health services for Canadians. Infoway recognises that there is huge potential is using data creatively to improve clinical and patient care without compromising fundamental privacy rights. In terms of recommendations to the network, Infoway advised child helplines to be open in their work but also to recognise the powerful value of data. “Respect for individuals means respect for data”.

3.16 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and chatbots

Moderator Rasmus Kjeldahl Executive Director, Børns Vilkår

Speakers Vanessa Blouin Director of Quality, Performance & Partnership, Tel-jeunes

Veronique Maurer Digital Strategy Director, Tel-jeunes

Rocio Aznar Daban Child Protection Specialist Prevention & Response to Violence against Children

Marshall Kaseke Mashonaland Regional Helpline Manager, Childline Zimbabwe

Ted Kaiser Vice President, Information Technology & Chief Project Management Officer, Kids Help Phone

Kristen Buckley Director, Knowledge Mobilisation & Government Relationships, Kids Help Phone

As new generations of children and young people become more and more technologically proficient, Tel-jeunes has been exploring new horizons and communications channels in order to support and better understand them. Tel-jeunes has been looking into artificial intelligence and is in the process of implementing its very own chat bot. During this session, Tel-jeunes highlighted the need to preserve the “human touch” so that children can continue to get the support they need; “harness technology, not humans”. At present, Tel-jeunes is building software that will integrate with their current system. This new system would work with algorithms to determine the severity of a case. Tel-jeunes hopes to make the first prototype available in 2019.

32

Infoway Presentation

Similarly, UNICEF has made use of chat bots in order to bring attention to sensitive subjects facing communities. UNICEF introduced their “U-Report” chat bot, which works to provide real time data collection by integrating with platforms such as SMS, Messenger, WhatsApp and Facebook. By using weekly polls, live chat and U-Report bots, UNICEF has been able to successfully identify “emergency countries” and uncover areas that demand heightened child protection focus. In 2015, U-Report helped to uncover a nationwide taboo regarding sexual coercion in Liberia. Thanks to the chat bot, respondents were connected to vital referral services such as the national child helpline. In the future, UNICEF will continue to tailor the U-Report service based on the specific needs of organisations.

Childline Zimbabwe has similarly embraced information and communication technologies (ICTs) to connect with children in the way they like most. At the 2017 Regional Consultation for Child Helplines in Africa, Childline Zimbabwe showcased its interactive mobile application, the 116 App. This app focusses on topics such as children’s rights, tips on detecting child abuse, study tips, adolescent sexual reproductive health rights and HIV/AIDS. During this session, we were introduced to the child-friendly interface of the app and Childline Zimbabwe’s strategy behind the content and images they have selected for the app. Improvements such as videos, tips, FAQs and connecting partners is something that Childline Zimbabwe is working on.

Kids Help Phone also has its own API, which has been developed to maximise referral programs for children and young people across Canada. At present, Kids Help Phone has an extensive referral collection of over 38,000 social, health and other service programmes. The API was developed in-house at Kids Help Phone through its website’s Resources Around Me feature. By developing the API, the back-end database of records is separated from the front-end Resources Around Me application. This approach means that other front-end applications can also be developed to connect to the API and access the collection. As a result, Kids Help Phone has licensed access to the API which allows it to support other organisations, such as Foundry, to gain access to its referral records. The system provides dashboards with real time information and guidance on click-throughs and searches. The API can also provide word clouds of searches and powerful analytics that can be particularly useful for funding proposals and informing governmental departments.

The audience touched upon the importance of privacy legislation at the national level when designing chat bots and API services. All speakers acknowledged that this is certainly a complicated area to navigate. Delegates responded that they would very much enjoy the opportunity to learn more about the speakers’ work by means of webinars. This would ensure a constructive knowledge exchange so that child helplines can effectively learn from one another and avoid duplication of work.

33

API & Chatbots Presentation

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.17 Open Spaces

Open Space #1

Moderator Steve Erwood Membership Manager, Child Helpline International

Speaker Mansour Al Saadi Executive Director, AMAN

During Open Space 1, Mansour Al Saadi of AMAN in Qatar gave a presentation about the Shawerny app being promoted by AMAN. Shawerny means “Whisper in my Ear”. The app has been distributed free of charge to many Qatari children, and has been especially useful for more vulnerable children, such as those with intellectual disabilities, as it provides a way for parents to keep in contact with them and monitor their whereabouts.

Open Space #2

Moderator Laura Holliday Project Coordinator, Child Helpline International

Speakers Melissa Marketos Permanent Goodwill Ambassador and Advisor to the Board of Directors, Linha Fala Criança

Aline Hartz Psychologist, Kanner Jugendtelefon

Barbara Gorges-Wagner

Director, Kanner Jugendetelefon

During Open Space 2, we had presentations from Melissa Marketos of Linha Fala Criança, Mozambique, and Aline Hartz and Barbara Gorges-Wagner of Kanner Jugendtelefon, Luxembourg.

In 2017, Linha Fala Criança considered how they could better harness technology to maximise their resources, which led to a five-pronged approach to their operation, including: having an easy number to dial in place nationwide, a toll-free service, national coverage, and solid data collection capacities. The next steps for Linha Fala Criança in 2019 include encouraging children to seek help, replying without cost, increasing the number of counsellors and volunteers, having a minimum technical expertise, implementing a texting service that can better guarantee anonymity, building upon their crowdsourcing software that can tie in with the relevant Mozambican institutions, allowing parents to obtain birth certificates for their children by means of mobile technology and continuing to build upon their original billboard campaigns that creatively make use of lenticular technologies to share messages with children and young people. Linha Fala Criança recognised its own delays in technology, which ultimately led it to produce a successful billboard campaign.

Kanner Jugendtelefon introduced BOD, a cartoon character devised as a means to promote its English-speaking counselling service within Luxembourg in 2015. Initially, Kanner Jugendtelefon focussed on the topics of cyberbullying and self-harm, creating postcards based on these themes to share with children in schools. BOD ultimately centered the vision of Kanner Jugendtelefon so that it could better help children and young people of Luxembourg talk about their feelings. Kanner Jugendtelefon is now embarking on a pilot exercise which will ultimately allow the child helpline to engage in a series of train-the-trainer activities to ensure sustainability in its work. In November 2018, Kanner Jugendtelefon will formally launch the BOD campaign on national television.

34

Kanner Jugendtelefon Presentation

Open Space #3

Moderator Ronja Ulvfot Inclusion Manager, Child Helpline International

Speakers Ashrafi Ahmad Project Director, Child Helpline 1098 Bangladesh

Bernardus Harageib Programme Manager, Lifeline/Childline Namibia

Bernardus Harageib presented on the services and activities of Lifeline/Childline Namibia. The child helpline was established in 1980, runs the harmonised 116 number and receives over 23,300 calls a year. The organisation also does outreach outside and within the counselling centre, making around 7,000 contacts a year, with therapeutic groups and peer-to-peer sessions. The organisation runs Vitavi radio, broadcast on national radio, which records children and young people, who decide upon all content. This service is also outreach, and travels to other regions including rural areas to make sure all voices are heard. The organisation hosted the Day of the African Child, and publishes the Kiddies Bulletin, created by children and young people. It also runs a child online protection programme, with support from the WeProtect programme. The First Lady of Namibia is an ambassador for the organisation. Lifeline/Childline Namibia also has a successful relationship with several broadcasters who have supported them with getting their message through on TV, online and via the radio – basically the organisation reached out and asked for their support.

Discussion followed about volunteers, and how to make sure they stay with the organisation. Bernardus described how a set of coordinators focus on the work of the volunteers, and explained how the organisation constantly talked about the value of the work of the volunteers, and made no differentiation between staff and volunteers. Small gestures are made to make sure that volunteers feel valued and important. Lifeline/Childline Namibia have MOUs with universities for volunteers, but also have full-time social workers and psychologists who are volunteering.

Ashrafi Ahmad outlined the services of Child Helpline 1098 in Bangladesh – a toll-free and confidential service open 24/7. It currently only responds to contacts via telephone. Its services are based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it has social workers working in its call centres.

35

Child Helpline 1098 Presentation

Lifeline/Childline Namibia Presentation

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

3.18 Closure

Speakers Katherine Hay President and CEO, Kids Help Phone

Sheila Donovan Interim Executive Director, Child Helpline International

In this closing session, Katherine and Sheila thanked everybody who had helped to make the event happen.

Katherine highlighted the power of the network. She felt that it had been an interesting experience to learn and share among one another: “We are trying to achieve a big, bold vision through accessing every child through technology. It is a challenge to consider how we can use technology to access all the children of the world.”

Sheila emphasised the need for collaboration when working within child protection services. Taking her inspiration from the words of the young people who had participated in the IC 2018, Sheila stated that the experience had been nothing less than “awesome”.

Before rounding the day off, we announced the appointment of Mansour Al Saadi as Regional Representative and Ohaila Shomar as Deputy Regional Representative of the Middle East and North Africa region.

The session was closed by inviting all guests, participants and child helpline members to next year’s five Regional Consultations and, of course, the next International Consultation in 2020.

36

“We are trying to achieve a big, bold vision through accessing every child through technology. It is a challenge to consider how we can use technology to access all the children of the world.”

3737

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS

Since our founding in 2003, Child Helpline International has advocated for the rights of children and young people around the world. We strive to support the creation and strengthening of child helplines as essential players within child protection systems.

Our vision remains:

As a network organisation, we coordinate information, viewpoints, knowledge and data from our child helpline members, our partners, and other external sources. This exceptional resource can influence profound change in child protection systems, ultimately allowing us to advocate for policy change at national, regional and global level.

The IC 2018 was a major date in our 2018 calendar. Experiences were shared, ideas were born and plans for the future have been hatched. We are a network of 178 child helplines across 146 countries who are bound together by one driving mission: to ensure that every child, everywhere, has a voice, and that no child – not a single one – remains unheard.

We look forward to seeing you all again at the IC 2020!

A world where technology allows children to be heard, one by one. Through their voices we can shape the world and realise their rights.

39

Every child has a voice. We believe that no child should be left unheard.childhelplineinternational.org

We are the international network of child helplines: a global collective impact organisation with 178 members in 146 countries