ESC: Youth For Hope - Humanitarian Division

“Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center (HFC) is an international humanitarian institution and its headquarters are based in Nicosia, Cyprus. HFC is an active organization aiming to protect and promote youth and children`s rights in society. The organization founded in the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), espouses all related initiatives, policies and legislation undertaken at EU level aiming at the protection of children's rights. Particularly, HFC follows the ‘EU Guidelines on the Rights of the Child', and continuously develops steps towards optimal measures that combat any form of violence against children, throughout its activities such as the implementation of the CoE's ONE in FIVE Campaign to stop sexual violence against children in Cyprus. The Children's House opened in 2017, offers holistic services for victims of child abuse under one roof minimizing the exposure of the victims to untrained professionals or non-child friendly environments. HFC was assigned by the Government to coordinate the operation of the Children’s House with the direct involvement of the Social Welfare Services, Cyprus Police, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Education. The organization is also implementing on a national level the foster care program for children under the care of State, focusing on the evaluation, training and monitoring of potential or approved foster families. Focusing on the mental health of children, HFC provides free psycho-social and legal services to children and families. Additionally, HFC initiates regularly public information campaigns and awareness-raising activities for the general public on specific topics within the children’s rights agenda, e.g., bullying or sexual abuse against children: Non-formal Human Rights Education (HRE) for teachers and children (Children Rights Convention Clubs), One in Five Campaign to stop sexual violence against children (2014-ongoing), the operation of the European Helpline for the Support of the Children and Adolescents 116111, the Missing Children Hotline 116000, the operation of the Child Alert for cases of missing children, HFC’s national support helpline 1466, the implementation and enforcement of the "Beat Bullying" Campaign, the coordination of the Children's House (2017), the Training of the Professionals involved in the Juvenile Judicial Procedures (2017), the Foster Care program for unaccompanied minors (2016- 2018) and the Social Skills Workshops for third-country nationals (2016-2017). Also, recent significant programmes that highlight the work of HFC are: INTEGRA, a multidisciplinary mentorship program to support the entrepreneurship of children in care and young care leavers (2018-2020) and HIT: Hater Interrupter Teams: Youth counteracting hate speech towards migrants and minorities through participatory and creative campaigning (2018-2020). Meanwhile, HFC engages a diverse and growing number of stakeholders (social partners, institutional actors, civil society and policy makers) urging for the development of child-friendly justice in Cyprus and the establishment of a juvenile justice system, and promoting participatory approaches for children and youth. The organization has engaged until now over 250 temporary and long-term volunteers through different programs (Erasmus, internships, apprenticeships etc). All of the above-mentioned activities are developed in line with the central mission of the organization to protect and promote children's rights, which the central theme of the volunteering projects. HFC gained relevant experience and know-how through research, advisory services, advocacy, and policy as well as through the design and implementation of grass-roots programmes and training of professionals. HFC is operating two children’s shelters for unaccompanied minors, who are under the guardianship of the Social Welfare Services, in Nicosia and in Larnaka with the first one started operation in 2014. The shelters accommodate minors (12- 18- year-old), who have suffered abuse and/or exploitation and provide interdisciplinary and holistic services based on models that are considered good practices in other European countries after they are first adapted to the needs and special circumstances of Cyprus. At the shelters and at the Headquarters, HFC has successfully implemented until now several EVS/ESC programmes with the participation of volunteers coming from Italy, Poland, France, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and Portugal.