“The Smile of the Child” supported 100.392 children and their families in 2016, among them 17.779 migrant and refugee children

PRESS RELEASE

9 February 2017

“The Smile of the Child” supported 100.392 children and their families in 2016, among them 17.779 migrant and refugee children

The annual statistics of “The Smile of the Child” for 2016 were announced during a press conference organized by the Organization and held on Thursday, 9 February 2017 at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The Smile of the Child” presented the total number of children and families it supported and presented its actions for every child victim of violence, disappearance, every child with health problems and every child in a situation of poverty.

“The Smile of the Child” provided its services to a total number of 100.392 children all across Greece, among them 17.779 migrant and refugee children, based on a team of 452 specialized professionals and 2.461 volunteers working on a daily basis in cooperation with the institutional actors, and thanks to the support it receives from citizens and companies.

“For yet another year and despite the ever increasing difficulties in the midst of the social, financial and refugee crisis in Greece, we supported more than 100.000 children and their families in a holistic way through services in prevention, intervention and therapies. From the 23.000 children we supported in 2011, we have reached a five time increase in this number within a period of the past 5 years, which were extremely harsh for the Greek society” said the President of the BoD of the Organization, Costas Yannopoulos.

“With the same powers and resources, and while maintaining to the fullest the quality of our services, we stood by all children victims of a crisis in Greece, including the migrant and refugee children residing in the country and in need of care and protection. Our goals are not the opportunistic actions, but to maintain the quality in our services for the benefit of all children” added the President of “The Smile of the Child”.

During the press conference, the Coordinators of the actions of the Organization presented the statistical data along the main pillars of Prevention, Intervention and Therapy. More specifically, in 2016 “The Smile of the Child” stood by every child by providing specialized services to:

• 43.856 children victims of violence
• 27.900 children with health problems
• 170 victims of disappearance
• 22.724 children living in poverty or threatened by poverty

More specifically, according to the 2016 statistical data:

“The Smile of the Child” next to every child victim of Violence:

Prevention:

• The European Helpline for Children and Adolescents 116111 received 7.581 calls.
• The European Helpline for Children and Adolescents 116111 provided counseling to 4.249 individuals on issues related to minors.
• Preventative interactive interventions were provided to 37.163 students in the framework of 939 nationwide visits to school communities with the participation of Students, Parents and Guardians’ Associations, Teachers Associations and the general public.

Intervention:

• The National Helpline for Children SOS 1056 received 244.676 calls. 39,5% of these calls were related to children at immediate risk.
• The National Helpline for Children SOS 1056 received 835 reports on serious child abuse related to 1.624 children.
• Direct Interventions were carried out for 171 children at immediate risk. 67% of these children were in need of immediate removal from the family environment.
• 116 requests for shelter were received for 202 children at risk. In total 297 children are currently being raised in 10 Homes of the Organization all across Greece.
• 53 children were provided with services in 3 Daycare Homes in Ileia, Agrinio and Mytikas, respectively. 83% of these children took part in this action due to social reasons.
• 81 children of more than 18 years old continue to receive support from the Organization during their studies and employment.

Therapy:

• 221 children received 5.761 therapeutic services from a multi-disciplinary professional scientific team of “The House of the Child”.

“The Smile of the Child” next to every child victim of Disappearance

Intervention:

• The European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 received 6.149 calls.
• The European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 received 170 requests for supporting search operations for missing children. Out of the total number 135 children were traced (80%).

“The Smile of the Child” next to every child with health problems

Prevention:

• 14.588 children were medically examined nationwide and free-of-charge in the framework of 21.978 medical check-ups provided in 3 mobile medical units of preventive medicine (Multi-medical Unit “Hippocrates”, Dentistry, Ophthalmological and ENT Units). “The Smile of the Child” cooperated with 420 doctors of different specialties and dentists across Greece who volunteered by offering their services for children.

Intervention:

• “The Smile of the Child” conducted transfers of 3.489 newborns and children, responding to 5.999 calls and covering 324.832 km! Out of the 3.489 children 774 were newborns and infants.
• 1.231 children with health problems were supported and the Organization responded to 5.957 requests. 341 of these children had no health insurance!
• 8.592 children received recreational activities in 6 Hospitals in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras.

“The Smile of the Child” next to every child who lives in poverty or is threatened by poverty:

Intervention:

• “The Smile of the Child” supported 22.724 children and their families nationwide. 1.399 children were supported for the first time. 84,68% of the families were families of unemployed parents or parents with an insecure employment status.

At the same time, 5.739 children participated in recreational activities at the Playground of the Organization at the Athens International Airport.

At the same time, “The Smile of the Child” continues to respond to the additional needs for children stemming from the refugee crisis, maintaining- in numbers and quality- the rest of its actions and services. Based on the enormous participation of volunteers, its know-how, expertise and specialized human resources, “The Smile of the Child” supported 17.779 migrant and refugee children in 2016 across 52 places across the country.

For more information, please contact our media team to press@hamogelo.gr or +30 210 3306 140.