Policy document

The Countdown to Manila: Where Promises to Children Must Become ActionWhy Manila matters – and why child helplines must be at the heart of the global movement to end violence against children

Helen Mason · 20 Oct 2026

Abstract

Let’s get one thing clear: the world does not need “just another conference” where everyone agrees that children deserve better, applauds the ambition, exchanges business cards and flies home. Children do not need more declarations of good intent. They need adults to turn those intentions into action. And that is precisely why the Second Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, taking place in Manila on 18–19 November 2026, matters. Co-organized by the Government of the Philippines, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, in collaboration with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, it offers an opportunity to turn political commitment into something that changes children’s lives. So, no. It is not “just another conference”. It is a moment to make decisions, shift priorities, unlock resources and challenge the comfortable distance between what the world says about protecting children and what children actually experience. And child helplines need to be right at the heart of it. One billion children. One very uncomfortable reality. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated one billion children aged 2–17 experience physical, sexual or emotional violence or neglect in a single year. Violence against children is not a niche issue. It is not confined to a particular region, income group or type of family. It is a global emergency, with consequences that reach into every community, every school, every digital space and every child protection system. The challenge is enormous. But so is our opportunity to change course. The first Global Ministerial Conference, held in Bogotá in 2024, brought together 109 Member States and generated close to 400 pledges to prevent and respond to violence against children. Since then, a majority of pledge-making governments have reported that they are either on track to deliver their commitments or have already done so. That is encouraging progress. It demonstrates what collective political commitment can achieve. But it also raises an important question: how do we ensure that progress reported by governments translates into meaningful change experienced by children? The Manila conference builds on Bogotá’s momentum, focusing on scaling proven prevention approaches, strengthening response systems and addressing escalating threats, including technology-facilitated violence and violence in humanitarian and climate-affected settings. These are the right priorities. But pledges are not protection. Commitments are not care. And a policy document, however beautifully written, cannot answer the phone when a child is frightened, isolated or in danger. The test is not simply what governments promise in Manila. The test is what becomes possible for children when they get home. Child helplines: not the supporting cast, but essential infrastructure Every day, child helplines operate at the point where children’s lives meet the systems designed to protect them. A child or young person might contact a child helpline because they are experiencing abuse at home, being threatened online, bullied, exploited or coerced. They might be struggling with their mental health. Or they might simply know that something is wrong, without having the words to explain it, and need one safe person to listen. Sometimes, that first conversation is the first time they have told anyone. Child helplines offer an accessible, child-centred route to support, information, referral and protection. They help children make sense of what is happening, identify risks and find a way forward. They can also help adults and communities raise concerns when a child may be at risk. And they bring something else to the table: insight into what children are experiencing, what they are willing to disclose, what is changing and where protection systems are failing to respond. Child helplines are both a lifeline for individual children and a listening post for the wider child protection system. That combination should make them indispensable to any serious strategy to end violence against children and young people. Yet we cannot take their existence, accessibility or capacity for granted. Not every child has access to a national child helpline. Not every child helpline has the resources to operate around the clock, respond across multiple channels or meet growing demand. And not every child who needs help can easily find it. Our ambition at Child Helpline International is clear: a child helpline in every country of the world by 2030, with services that children can access and trust. This is not an optional extra for child protection systems. It is part of the infrastructure we need to make those systems work for children. From Livingstone to Manila: turning commitment into protection For Child Helpline International, Manila is not the beginning of this conversation. Through our Livingstone Declaration and our work to carry its ambitions forward to Manila, we have been advocating for stronger recognition of child helplines and their contribution to national child protection systems. That work is grounded in a simple conviction: children’s right to be heard must be matched by their ability to reach support, and by the willingness and capacity of institutions to respond. Manila’s prevention-first approach is important. Supporting parents and caregivers, making schools safe and strengthening response systems are all essential to preventing violence at scale. But prevention and response are not competing priorities. We need both. We need to prevent harm before it happens. We need to identify it when it does. We need to ensure that children can disclose it safely, that someone takes them seriously, and that the right support follows. A child helpline can be the bridge between a child’s first disclosure and a wider system of protection. But that bridge only works when it connects to services that are available, adequately resourced, trained and ready to respond. Behind every successful contact are trained counsellors, safeguarding protocols, secure communications and case-management systems, referral partnerships, quality standards, accessible helpline numbers and sustainable funding. A short, easy-to-remember number is not much use if it does not connect. A counsellor cannot make a referral to a service that does not exist. And a child helpline cannot sustain its promise on goodwill alone. That is why governments, telecommunications providers, donors, technology companies and child protection partners all have a role to play. Accessibility must be designed in. Referral pathways must work in practice. Funding must be sustainable. And the people who answer children’s calls, messages and chats must have the support they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. This is what investment in response systems looks like: the practical foundations that allow children and young people to reach help when it matters. Three commitments that would make a difference If Manila is to accelerate meaningful progress, we need governments to make commitments that translate into stronger, more accessible support for children. For child helplines, three priorities stand out. First, recognize child helplines as integral parts of national child protection systems. They should be included in national violence-prevention and response strategies, with clearly defined roles and effective links to statutory child protection, health, education, justice and other essential services. Second, invest in their accessibility, quality and sustainability. This means reliable and affordable ways for children and young people to make contact, trained and supported personnel, secure technology, effective safeguarding and referral arrangements, and predictable funding that enables services to meet children’s needs. Third, include child helplines and the children and young people they serve in the development and monitoring of national commitments. Children and young people must have meaningful opportunities to shape the systems intended to protect them. The evidence and insights emerging from child helplines can help identify changing risks, barriers to help-seeking and unmet needs. That evidence must, of course, be handled responsibly. Child helpline data is not a substitute for population-level research, and children’s privacy must always be protected. But it provides an essential perspective on experiences that might otherwise remain invisible to policymakers. These priorities are particularly important when governments address technology-facilitated violence, sexual abuse, mental health crises and the needs of children affected by conflict, displacement or climate-related emergencies. How can we credibly claim to be building child-centred protection systems without including the services children and young people themselves turn to for help? A pledge is a beginning. Accountability is what makes it count. The Manila conference is an opportunity to celebrate progress, learn from what is working and encourage governments to make stronger commitments. It is also an opportunity to ask harder questions. Are pledges specific, measurable and adequately funded? Are governments tracking whether children are actually benefiting? Are children, young people and survivors shaping decisions, rather than simply appearing on a stage? Are frontline services involved in designing the systems they will be expected to deliver? And are commitments reaching the children who are easiest to overlook? We need to move beyond counting announcements to measuring change. For Child Helpline International and our members, that means continuing to advocate for recognition, investment, effective referral pathways and meaningful participation in the design and monitoring of national commitments. It also means ensuring that children’s experiences inform decisions long after the conference has ended. The global movement to end violence against children will only be as strong as the systems that turn its ambition into reality. And those systems must be built around children, not around the convenience of institutions. Our ambition has to be bigger than two days in Manila Child Helpline International connects child helplines around the world. Our network sees the ingenuity, dedication and determination of people working every day to make support accessible to children and young people. We also see the barriers: limited resources, uneven coverage, fragmented services and the persistent gap between a child needing help and a system being ready to provide it. We know what becomes possible when child helplines are connected, supported and recognized as part of the wider child protection ecosystem. Now we need to take that ambition to scale. Manila should be a springboard for a global commitment to make child helplines accessible, sustainable and connected to effective protection systems in every country. It should help turn frontline experience into national action, national commitments into measurable progress, and global ambition into practical investment. It should also remind us that children are not simply the beneficiaries of our decisions. They are people with rights, views, experiences and ideas — and they deserve systems that listen to them. So, by all means, let’s have the conference. Let’s bring ministers, young people, survivors, practitioners, funders and global partners into the same room. Let’s challenge each other, share what works and make commitments that match the scale of the crisis. But let’s be clear about what comes next. The real measure of Manila will not be the speeches delivered, the photographs taken or the pledges announced. It will be whether more children can reach someone who listens, whether that person can connect them to meaningful support, and whether governments put the resources behind making that possible. A conference lasts two days. Its consequences can last for generations. That is why it matters. And that is why child helplines must be part of what happens next. Helen Mason Executive Director The post <p style='font-size:20px'>The Countdown to Manila: Where Promises to Children Must Become Action</p><p style='font-size:16px'>Why Manila matters – and why child helplines must be at the heart of the global movement to end violence against children</p> appeared first on Child Helpline International.