17:18 - 7.05.2020

---

May 7, Fineko/abc.az. “Azerbaijan Children Hotline” Service established and operating with the support of “Azercell Telecom” LLC has released results on its activity for April. During this period the helpline service received 756 calls. The majority of the calls, specifically 423 queries were related to education. The remaining calls related to social (98 cases), psychological (51 cases), legal (44 cases), and other (74 cases) matters. 665 appeals were received for the first time, while 91 were repeated. 692 calls were made by girls while the remaining 612 were received from boys. The remaining 5 appeals were received via SMS, so the gender of the applicants was not determined. About 85% of the applicants were older than 18.   

Amid lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, the employees of “Azerbaijan Children Hotline” Service conducted their activities from home in April. Short number 116111 of Hotline Service was forwarded to mobile number and calls were answered on 7/24 basis by the operators. 712 inquiries were received through mobile number, while 18 through landline numbers and 26 via SMS.   

Despite the quarantine applied throughout April, the representatives of Hotline service arranged meetings with 6 families on the basis of queries, while sending letters to 44 relevant addresses to provide them urgent support. Starting from April 29, within the framework of the service, consultations, and meetings with families involved in rehabilitation have been partially restored.

A range of measures aimed at raising awareness about the Service were carried out on social media channels over the last month. The representatives of the Service regularly spoke in local media outlets and actively participated in awareness-raising initiatives aimed at protection of children's rights. Meanwhile, the Service expanded the activities in social media and arranged live sessions.   

Notably, “Azerbaijan Children Hotline” Service received a total of 2069 appeals during the first 4 months of 2020. 

For more information about 24/7 “Children Hotline” please visit www.usaqxetti.az.