Youth Help Line

Youth Help Line by Rozan is a free telephone psychological counseling service available to the youth of Pakistan at the toll free number 0800 22444, and has helped thousands of troubled minds and prevented many suicides. At YHL, trained psychologists provide guidance regarding any psycho-sexual problem a person may be going through. This is how the Rozen website describes its program:

"The Youth Help Line (YHL) is a resource centre working on the emotional and sexual health of young people. It is primarily a toll free telephone counseling service that operates 7 days a week from 10am to 8pm and can be accessed by areas with telephone code starting with 05 and 09 . This includes the entire NWFP and northern areas and parts of Punjab.

YHL is a unique counseling service as it is the first free help line in Pakistan that was launched exclusively for young people. It provides information, counseling, guidance, and emotional support to the youth in a non-judgmental and non-threatening environment. The service is completely confidential, enabling the youth to approach the Helpline on a whole range of issues and concerns associated with adolescence and growing up. These issues may include:

• Low self esteem and lack of self confidence
• Family dynamics and relationships
• Careers & academic issues
• Physical changes taking place in the body
• Bullying and peer pressure
• Drug abuse
• Physical and emotional abuse"

Here is an excellent review of the YHL Service at Dawn. YHL is doing a great job, and we should all laud its efforts towards a much neglected area.