An agreement involving the Algerian Muslim Scouts, to provide a call centre with the hotline 33-30, has been signed.

Completed on the 14^th April 2008 at the Ministry for Mail, Information and Communication Technology, with the concurrence of Algerian Telecom and the Algerian Muslim Scouts, to provide the Algerian Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights a call centre with the hotline number 30-33, which will be in operation starting from 3^rd May 2008.

Mr. Abdelkarim Araar, member of the General Directorate and head of the call centre, explained that this hotline, which is a part of the ‘I hear you’ program, will allow children suffering physical or emotional abuse, or psychologically damaging social issues, to make direct contact with a call centre, staffed by specialists from a number of different fields to provide help and necessary advice. Twelve developmental experts met for a week to oversee the organisation of the call centre and its day-to-day operation, which will be from 9am until midnight. As a part of this plan, a flood of advertisements will be released for a year, before it will be expanded to other provinces across the nation.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister for Communications, Mr. Boujema Hichour and the GC of the Algerian Muslim Scouts, Mr. Nourreddine Ben Brahm who expressed his satisfaction at the signing of this agreement, which counts as another means of fighting social corrosion in Algeria, as well as representing a big step towards the development of the welfare movement in Algeria, which has already begun to take steps to fulfil its aims.

And for his part, the Minister for Mail, Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Hichour, pointed out that this agreement is part of a framework including a number of schemes which the government has undertaken, to protect the rights of children and other vulnerable groups in society.