A unique observatory on the world of childhood and adolescence based on three fundamental pillars: protection, prevention and participation. This is the beating heart of the activity of Telefono Azzurro, an organization that in over 38 years of activity has been able to create a single network model in the world of the third sector capable of carrying out an advanced co -co -co -run with institutions, educators, law enforcement and doctors. The social budget of the SOS Foundation The Telephone Azzurro Etspresented today in Rome at the Cinema Trevi room has highlighted not only the data and numbers from the services of the listening lines, but placed the foreground new vulnerabilities that have a direct impact on the psychological well -being of the youngest And that generate anxieties and worries.
2024 saw the mental health of children and adolescents emerge as absolute priority With concrete evidence from the thousands of requests for help managed by the listening lines of Telefono Azzurro. Cases of self -harm, eating disorders and problems related to mental health also due to a progressive reduction of socialization often replaced by the pervasive use of digital technologies, chatbots and entry into life of all life of artificial intelligence are also increasing. It is to these new challenges that the SOS Foundation The Telephone Azzurro Ets must look at in order to capture – with advance and flexibility – the change, always putting the listening at the center and intercepting the new forms of discomfort. It is thanks to listening that it is possible to break the silence, providing children and teenagers of concrete tools to face their future safely.
The blue telephone lines are always active 24/24h and 7/7 days thanks to the work of over 160 volunteers. In 2024 the telephone and chat line 19696 dedicated to listening, support and psycho -pedagogical advice to children, adolescents and adults in situations of discomfort he managed 1,859 casesan average of 155 per month and about 5 per day. There Line 114 Childhood Emergencythe public service co-financed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for the reporting of emergencies concerning Minors has managed 3,178 cases, with an average of 265 per month and about 9 per day. 116,000 The European number dedicated to the reporting and management of disappeared minors he managed total 76 cases.
The digital world continues to represent the central challenge in the mission to protect children and teenagers from the risks of the network. «The data that emerge from our daily activity confirm how artificial intelligence and algorithms are redefining not only the way in which children relate to each other, but also their perception of reality. The increasingly massive diffusion of artificially generated content makes our commitment in training and awareness activities even more urgent “underlines” Ernesto Caffopresident of Telefono Azzurro.
2024 was a year of important innovations and conquests for the association that has strengthened its network of international collaborations (such as Icmec, NcMec, We Protect, Eurochild, Missing Children Europe, Inhope, Saphefe, to mention the main ones), with the aim of protecting and promoting childhood safety. A goal also achieved through proactive collaboration with a large network of companies, with Italian and international academic realities and with Italian and European institutions to spread awareness of a technological development that is increasingly suitable for child and teenager.
Many projects involved schools, such as the Education School Project with over 2,600 minors involved, in addition to parents and teachers, about 1,000 hours of training and over 200 meetings. Furthermore, In 2024 the trial that in 2025 led Agcom to confer to Telefono Azzurro the qualification of a reliable report in 2025 (Truster Flagger), a crucial role as part of the implementation of Digital Services Act in the countries of the European Union, since it allows a privileged reporting channel to online platforms, obliged to intervene in a timely and priority way on qualified reports.
«Looking to the future we are aware that the challenges will continue to evolve, but we are sure that, thanks to the support of all those who believe in our mission, we will continue to be a safe point of reference for all those children and young people who need help, protection and listening. For the future blue telephone will look at the construction of protective educational communities, the development of ethical technological tools for the protection of childhood and the promotion of a safe digital world and respectful of the rights of minors»Concludes Caffo.
Telephone Azzurro
Telefono Azzurro was born in 1987, in Bologna, to be able to listen to the requests for help of children in danger or in difficulty. A concrete response to the “right to listening” recognized to the child by the international agreement on the rights of the childhood signed by the United Nations. Today Telefono Azzurro is listening and intervention lines, telephone and online (mobile, web, chat, apps, social networks), emergency interventions in the event of disasters and disasters, projects for children children of prisoners, projects on the territory and prevention through education and awareness in schools, adults and those who decide. Telefono Azzurro promotes total respect for the rights of children and adolescents. With its activities every day supports their growth potential and protects them from abuse and violence that can affect their well -being and the path of growth.
