Helplines

Romanian organisation Asociatia Telefonul Copilului will start operating the 116 111 number from 1st October 2008. In order to give the organisation necessary time to promote the new number, Romtelecom has agreed to keep the operation of the current number 0800 8200200 for 1 year, while redirecting the calls to 116 111.

Recently the Czech National Regulatory Authority assigned common European child helpline number 116 111 to Linka bezpeci in the Czech Republic.

With their main donor Telefonica O2 the child helpline is preparing a billboard campaign to publicise the number to all children in the Czech Republic.

Source: CHI newsletter May-June 2008

 

On 29 October 2007 the European Commission adopted the Decision 2007/689/EC recommending member states to reserve the number 116 111 for child helpline services on national levels. By adopting the Decision the European Commission recognized importance of the work child helplines provide to children in the European Union and the need to support them.

The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse was adopted and opened for signature in October 2007, and since then has been signed by 28 of the Council of Europe's member states. It is the first international treaty to provide criminal penalties for those who sexually abuse children and a valuable tool for preventing and combating violations of children's fundamental rights.