In the two months since the government of Lesotho launched the county's first national child helpline, almost 500 orphans and vulnerable children have picked up the phone to demand assistance and an ear.
Lesotho's population of orphans and vulnerable children continues to swell on the back of one of the world's worst HIV/AIDS epidemics, but the new initiative provides a glimmer of hope or, at least, someone willing to listen.
"Children are encouraged to talk about their problems without judgment or fear of making things worse. While a child's reason for calling may vary, one factor remains the same: a child is asking to be heard," said Nafisa Binte-Shafique, the Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The government of Lesotho, with support from UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Lesotho Telecommunication authorities, opened the lines to the service on 30 April 2008.
"The Child helpline is working effectively, the population is responding well. At the moment the bulk of calls are made by parents and neighbours reporting on child cases, as well as children calling in themselves," said Kananelo Moholi, Child Helpline coordinator at Lesotho Save the Children (SC), the NGO hosting and running the helpline.
Moholi told IRIN that 467 calls had already been dealt with. In 160 cases the caller hung up immediately, and in 279 cases children were seeking information and general counselling.
There were 28 "real cases" of rape, sexual harassment, neglect and emotional and physical abuse, as well as "14 drop-in cases, face-to-face counselling [related to] beatings, abduction and suicide," she added. As a result, the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) had placed three children in the Maseru Children's Village, a place of safety located in the SC Lesotho premises.
The helpline also alerted the DSW to the special schooling needs of a disabled girl, and the case of a child who had recently lost both parents. Two children, found across the border in South Africa, were returned to Lesotho and were being taken care of while their abusive parents remained in custody, Moholi said.
"We are overcoming challenges as we go along, and we hope to scale up our programme and community involvement in our efforts to protect and assist as many children in difficulty as possible," Moholi said.
Call 800 22 345
The toll-free number - 800 22 345 - opens a channel of communication between children and service providers, offering 24-hour counselling, support and protection services, Binte-Shafique told IRIN.
A variety of services are available when a child calls, depending on the nature of the case. The child can be counselled or given relevant information during the call, or a referral will be made to the appropriate organisation, such as the DSW, or medical, psychosocial and legal service providers.
The strength of the helpline lies in its ability to effectively refer cases from any point in the country to the service provider closest to the child, Binte-Shafique said.
The service "places children and their safety as its core principle, providing assistance and linking children in need of care and protection to long-term services and resources. It allows children and young people to express their concerns and talk about issues that affect them."
Overwhelming need
A 2007 study, conducted by the Ministry of Health with UNICEF support, reinforced what most people already knew: Lesotho has long had a desperate need for this service. Over 90 percent of children interviewed felt it was important that someone listened to what they had to say.
 The launch of a child helpline in Lesotho is a milestone, not only in terms of protecting children against any form of violence and ensuring their access to protection services, but also in terms of HIV prevention |
The death of a parent, hunger, being beaten, neglect, and lack of empathy from parents after rape, were among the main reasons children gave for sometimes being "sad". According to the survey, 79 percent of children would call a helpline if it were available. Importantly, the study found that even in rural areas, over 80 percent of children had access to a phone.
Children also indicated that they were not willing to talk to pastors, police or chiefs in their villages because numerous offences involving children were common knowledge to community members that were supposed to protect them, but nothing was done.
When you can't phone home
Orphaned children are at particular risk of abuse, exploitation and discrimination. Government figures indicate that the number orphans doubled from 92,000 in 2003 to over 180,000 by 2005, with an estimated 100,000 losing their parents to HIV/AIDS. Orphans also often find themselves battling the disease that took their parents.
More recent statistics are not available, but by most accounts there are now more children without adult protection than ever before, placing a crushing burden on Lesotho's 1.8 million people. Figures from the Lesotho National AIDS Commission show that the HIV infection rate increased from 2 percent in 1991 to 23.3 percent in 2005.
"The launch of a child helpline in Lesotho is a milestone, not only in terms of protecting children against any form of violence and ensuring their access to protection services, but also in terms of HIV prevention," Binte-Shafique said. UNICEF is planning to channel HIV prevention messages and information through the child helpline to support children and adolescents "to make life-saving choices".
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
