The Child Help Desk is a hotline—an organizational response to awareness creation on the rights of the child.  It was established in 1999 as a a special unit for reporting and responding to all reported cases of child abuse and neglect.

Objectives

Its objectives are three-fold, namely:

• To provide a sympathetic and non-judgmental “ear” where children and adults can talk freely about child abuse and neglect and report confidentially on any cases of child abuse and neglect they know or suspect.

• To provide an accurate, straightforward source of information about all aspects of child abuse and neglect, including the legal options that are available to abused children or their parents.

• To provide an opportunity to intervene in serious cases and get children the legal, medical or psychological help they need.

Services of the Child help desk include the following:

• Arbitration

• Social advice and counselling
• Conducting social investigation on all reported cases

• Referal of cases for further action such as legal services or to other relevant agencies

• Conduct follow-up of cases through correspondence and home visits

Categories of Cases received