May 23, 2022 – Doha, Qatar:

Today, the International Conference on Child Helplines, organized by the Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center "AMAN", a center governed by the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, will be launched over two consecutive days, 23-24 May 2022, at Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel – Al Sailiya Hall.

This Conference is organized in conjunction with the International Day of Child Helplines, which is celebrated by Child Helplines International on 17th May every year. The Conference aims to mobilize international and regional efforts for child helplines, with the participation of more than 30 international and regional organizations and entities concerned with issues related to children, and a group of attendees interested in issues related to children.

Today, AMAN is preparing to launch new projects in the field of child protection in particular, and family protection in general.

The Conference will discuss a number of themes related to child helplines and social protection mechanisms for children.

The first session will focus on the approach and experience of “AMAN" in child protection, and on the most important services provided to protect the target groups of children, as well as on clarifying the challenges of working in the field of child helplines with Child Helplines International, and the emergency response mechanisms to help children in crises.

The second session will discuss the most important challenges of child helplines in the Middle East, the experience of child helplines in Belgium, and the mechanism for reporting child abuse.

The third session will discuss the most important laws and policies in the governance and development of child protection tools, the repercussions of COVID-19 on domestic violence, and the role of child helplines in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The Conference will be accompanied by a closed session for the preparatory consultative meeting for the Stockholm meeting of members of the MENA Regional Office of Child Helplines International, in addition to a set of parallel workshops addressing the methods of dealing with abuse in the school settings, mechanisms for reporting it and methods of creating child-oriented media campaigns, and, for the first time, the children will participate in discussing their own issues by submitting working papers and conducting the sessions.

This Conference is the first international and regional specialized meeting of its kind in the region for child helplines, and will be a turning point for the vision and mission of AMAN and the relevant authorities in promoting protection and social rehabilitation for children, guided by the best international and regional practices, and promoted by the efforts of AMAN in its prestigious position in the leadership of civil society organizations internationally and regionally in the field of child helplines.

In this context, Mrs. Hanan Al Ali, Director of the Communication and Media Office at AMAN Center, said that the Center is keen to organize such international conferences in order to benefit from the experiences of and exchange information with the participating entities. The Conference will contribute to the development of work in the field of child helplines and the transfer of the Qatari distinguished experience to the world. The Conference will also transfer the efforts made to develop child helplines in the region, which in turn will contribute to achieving the vision, mission and strategic objectives of AMAN Center to reduce violence against target groups of children."​