Girl Child Rights and partners to launch Child Help Line in central Mozambique

During the course of the past few weeks, Girl Child Rights (GCR) have had a courtesy meeting with His Excellence Provincial State secretary of Manica province, Edison Macuacua. The objective of the meeting was to invite His Excellence to the official launch of the Child Helpline on the 11th of October, the International Day of the Girl Child with a global theme entitled: ‘My voice, our future together”. In accepting the invitation, his Excellency shared that ‘Child protection is a matter of child rights, and we would be defending humanity. It is a government concern defending humanity for girls to grow up in a safe environment" (ie without exploitation, abuse and neglect).

The official launch of the decentralization of the Child Help Line from Maputo to Manica is a key milestone for bringing child protection services to the doorsteps of poor and vulnerable communities in the central region of Mozambique. The event will be preceded by a conference with young people as part of the plan of action and follow-up of the Sub-Regional Conference on ending child marriage that was held last year in Chimoio.

The launch will be live streamed on various social media platforms with the aim of attracting audiences from Mozambique, the region and global audiences.

The objectives of launching the Child Help Line are to:

  1. Establish a remote platform to reach out to every child in need of care and protection by responding to calls/contacts and emergencies received in central region of Mozambique;
  2. Strengthen multi-sectorial engagement for coordinated follow-up of child protection cases remotely reported and ensure timely response;
  3. Ensure access of remote services to the most marginalized areas (urban as well as rural) and opportunity for children to express their concern and get support.

The expected outcomes are:

  • Submission of an advocacy policy brief to advocate for social accountability and responsibility premature marriage;
  • Strengthened child protection case management system at provincial and district level in Manica province and central Mozambique;
  • Increased awareness on the existence of the CHL services in Manica to support child protection systems in central Mozambique;
  • Increased donors commitment to increase invest in child protection systems in Mozambique;
  • Key findings on ending child marriage drawing from the recent desk review and rapid digital assessment study on ESA Commitments.