CHILDLINE 1098

In India, CHILDLINE 1098 is the first national 24-hour free emergency phone outreach service for children in need of care and protection. Its mission, through the guiding principles ‘Connect’, ‘Catalyse’, ‘Collaborate’ and ‘Communicate’, is to create a safe system able to ensure the rights that should be granted to every single child of the world.

We, as Terre des Hommes CORE Trust, are a partner organization of CHILDLINE and we operate both in the districts of Tiruvannamalai and Vellore. In Tiruvannamalai, implement Child COLLAB on the entire district. In Vellore, we have sub-centre with three Panchayat Unions. 

In Tiruvannamalai, the work and the service for children in need arrive also in the Jawadhu Hills, where there is the sub-centre specialized in supporting and protecting children in the tribal areas from being trafficked or abused.

CHILDLINE 1098

Rescued children from: April to December 2021

Total INTERVENTION

CHILDREN

Total Intervention so far (7 March 2011 to Feb 2022) 6012 children

 Eradication of child beggary thanks to 1098:

The city of Tiruvannamalai is globally famous as a place of pilgrimage and meditation, many people from everywhere in the world gather here in search of peace and divinity. As it often happens in places where a lot of tourists and people go, beggary is a major issue. Scenes of poor people begging with children is not an unusual phenomenon. To tackle the issue of child beggary, Terre des Hommes CORE started an initiative to help children involved, and thanks to CHILDLINE 1098 the result is that child beggary has almost eradicated in Tiruvannamalai town. 

Nandhini’s Story, from child marriage to a brilliant life

Courage, education and hope are vital words and concepts that are at the core of Nandhini’s story. This story is a great example of how much awareness and prevention are important for the safety and happiness of children, especially at school. It is precisely at school that Nandhini started to be aware that child marriage represents a real abuse against children’s rights: it was written in one leaflet in 1098 that she received while she was attending class.

One day, at the age of 16, Nandhini found out that her parents arranged a marriage for her, with a man much older than her. She was desperate, she didn’t know how to escape from this terrible situation; she stayed close in her room for several days, without stop crying. The feeling of being powerless seemed invincible, all her dreams about her future and her education seemed destroyed.

The day before the marriage, she suddenly remembered about 1098’s leaflet she received at school, she took it and she realized she could call the emergency number “1098”. Immediately our emergency 1098 team arrived and saved her from the marriage.

Now she lives safely in one of our homes and she can study and pursue her dreams. We are all confident that she will realise all the beautiful things she pictured for her future career.

On January 2018, Nandhini received the “Bravery Child Award” from Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the courage she had to fight against the child marriage organized by her parents.

More Information on Childline 1098