HARNESSING ICT IN CHILD PROTECTION

About Me..

• Florence Chileshe Nkhuwa

• Co-founder & CEO at LifeLine Childline Zambia

• 20 years experience in child protection services

• Talking about the use of technology in 116 Childline

Acknowledgements

About LifeLine Childline Zambia

933 Gender Based Violence Helpline•Introduced in 2003•Toll-free counselling 24/7/365•Focus on population > 18 years•Focus on phone calls only

116 Childline•Introduced in 2011•Toll-free counselling 24/7/365•Focus on children < 18 years•Embracing new technologies

Early ICT use at 116 Childline

Use of fixed telephone line services

Difficulties:• Lack of facilities restricting access• Difficult to capture and store data• Slow network speed reducing service

efficiency• Low volume of intervention cases

How do we do it today?

Embracing New Technologies

Including:• Voice Calls• SMS Chat• Online Chat• Aunt Flo Blog• Email• Social Media – Facebook, Twitter etc• CRM (Client Relationship Management)

Results of Technological Expansion

• Increased call traffic on all networks

• Penetrated new areas such as rural areas.

• It became easy to get and store new data.

• It made our operations efficient and effective.

• It enabled us to reach out to all categories of people even the disabled through such technology as SMS etc.

Annual Call Traffic

2011 2012 2013

68,307 89,562

110,198

No. of intervation calls

31% Increase

23% Increase

Key areas of focus moving forward

• Funding restrictions

• Human resource restrictions

• High costs of communication equipment

• Continue to work with the Regulator

• Increase child awareness of the different contact platforms

Pipeline technological projects

• Increased use of social media

• Continue to use radio and television advertising

• Tackling cyber bullying in partnership with ZICTA & UNICEF

• SMS donations in partnership with major phone networks

• Use of online advertising through Google AdWords Grant programme

Why should start up helplines use technology?

• Technology is rapidly growing in communities

• Improve research and data management

• Promote programme communications and delivery

• Telecom partnerships

Summary

• Start small and keep up to date with new technology

• Invest in partnerships

• Manage your data

• Raise awareness

• Illustrate positive impact of work on stakeholders.

Thank you for listening!

Any Questions?