"The Smile of the Child" responded to unprecedented conditions caused by the pandemic by supporting 57,722 children and families in 2020

PRESS RELEASE

Athens, 3 February 2021

"The Smile of the Child" responded to unprecedented conditions
caused by the pandemic by supporting 57,722 children and families in 2020

"The Smile of the Child" held a press conference on Wednesday, February 3, 2021,
to present its activities and initiatives in 2020.

- "The Smile of the Child" warns about the risk of unaddressed children’s needs
  and the negative impact on children's lives
- Sexual abuse; let’s shed light on the abuse and horror that some children experience

Since the beginning of the pandemic and the implementation of social distancing and other containment measures in our country, "The Smile of the Child" has implemented a Crisis Management Operational Plan, in order to protect the children and families it supports through its actions, its human resources and volunteers. The Organization has pursued new initiatives through strategic partnerships, in order to respond to unmet children’s needs amid worsening conditions.

The president of the Organization, Mr. Costas Yannopoulos, stated; "In the spirit of full transparency and accountability, we want to update the public on our 2020 activities.  Last year coincided with the 25th Anniversary of “The Smile of the Child”. The year was marked by an unprecedented health crisis with significant impact on the lives of children and their families. In the midst of the pandemic, we are proud to have offered support to 57,722 children and their families, with care and, thanks to your support, the tremendous efforts of our experienced staff, our partners and volunteers. Numbers cannot do justice to convey the breadth of the efforts or the magnitude of the problems faced by families. State lockdowns to combat the health crisis resulted in children losing valuable services in areas such as health, while intensifying problems caused by domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, school violence, and unconstrained internet use".

Mr. Yannopoulos spoke further on the subject of sexual abuse; "Despite our best efforts to raise awareness on  sexual abuse through our nationwide “It Remains a Secret” campaign, only 31 out of the 2.009 child complaints filed in 2020 referred to child abuse, which constitutes an unwillingness to speak up. The problem is much bigger and there is no national mechanism for recording incidents of sexual abuse. "

During the press conference, the organization’s staff scientists presented the statistics on the provided specialized services;

• 23.045 children helped in the field of Violence
• 787 children & 50 adults helped in the field of Disappearances
• 13,511 children served in the field of Health
• 20,219 children assisted facing Poverty or other welfare issues

Some of the challenges we faced last year include; difficulties in addressing children with serious health problems, an increase in the number families facing adverse living conditions, the escalation of incidents of domestic violence and the insufficient blood supply in Hospitals. We had to exceed our capabilities to ensure the continuity of our services while building service capacity in new areas deemed necessary;

Specifically:
● Voluntary blood donations utilizing the Mobile Unit of the Organization, "ULYSSES" (“ODYSSEAS” in Greek) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the General Secretariat of Sports. We visited 32 spots and collected a total of 1,643 blood bags.
● Hospitality and holistic support provided to mothers who were victims of domestic violence and their children, in apartments of the Organization dedicated to this purpose.
● Launch of the Smile Academy, a new online platform made possible with the generous support of CISCO. We carried out online prevention interventions, remedial teaching and training seminars; the 2.950 registrants and 3.014,5 hours of online sessions in 9 months of operation demonstrate the potential of this new initiative.
● Activation of the Missing Alert Hellas to assist in the recovery of missing adults 18 to 60 years old, who belong to vulnerable and high risk groups. The project was implemented by the Organization after signing a Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Citizen Protection in 2020.
● Launch of the new innovative Missing Alert App developed by Cosmote for “The Smile of the Child", aiming at faster recovery of missing children and the protection of adults with a high risk of going missing, through the active participation of the public.
● Launch of the Chat Application, which enables children to communicate with the Psychologists and the Social Workers of our Organization through texting. The project was made possible thanks to the kind support of the IT General Management of the National Bank of Greece.
● Connection of the “National Hotline for Children SOS 1056” with the state’s Psychosocial Support Hotline 10306 for Corovirus, introduced by the Ministry of Health.

“The Smile of the Child” tackled the issue of sexual abuse long before it became a “hot topic” in Greece through the recent avalanche of complaints garnering daily media coverage.  The Organization has been active in this field for 25 years and continues in the context of the “It remains a Secret” Campaign. This campaign was adopted in 2017 under the auspices of the President of the Greek Republic and the General Prosecutor of the Supreme Court. Statistics and real stories from staff working on the front line were presented to illustrate the impact on adulthood and define the scale of the problem.

Sign up at https://meneimystiko.gr/campaign to support our proposals aimed at preventing and treating sexual abuse.  The signatures already collected sum up to only 19,300; let’s join forces to gather millions of signatures on this worthy cause.

Detailed statistics here

For more information please contact:
"The Smile of the Child"
Press Office
Tel. 210-3306140
press@hamogelo.gr