The Foundation Child for Study and Research into Childhood and Adolescence was set up in 1998 by the association “S.O.S. Il Telefono Azzurro – National Helpline for the Prevention of Child Abuse”.
The Foundation Child’s main objective is to promote a child-centered culture through a close examination of the causes and treatments of physical and mental diseases, as well as of behavioral and mood difficulties in children and adolescents.
Today the spread of mental health disorders in children and adolescents is becoming a vast and urgent problem. In particular, experts are detecting an increasing number of disorders concerning social, emotional and cognitive development, as well as other specific symptoms such as anxiety, behavioral and intellectual difficulties, and problem of adaptation.
The current understanding of these mental disorders highlights the role of complex interactions between biological and environmental factors within specific timeframes, ranging from birth through every stage of development. Children are indeed exposed to biological risks that are either congenital or acquired, as well as to environmental adversities.
Research methodologies currently used in biology, psychology, and behavioral science provide the initial criteria to study mental development in children, as well as causes, courses, and therapies for mental and organic disorders.
Complete information regarding the Foundation Child’s activities and future perspectives is available here.
He is an Italian child and adolescent neuropsychiatrist, academic, and advocate for children’s rights, founder and President of the S.O.S. Il Telefono Azzurro ETS and the Foundation Child. He is Senior Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Since February 2018, he has served as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and he is a Board Member of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and Missing Children Europe.
MD, he is the Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Psychology and Pediatrics at Yale. He served as the Director of Research for the Yale Child Study Center from 1983 to 2010. Dr. Leckman is a renowned child psychiatrist and patient-oriented clinical investigator. His peers have regularly selected him as one of the Best Doctors in America. Dr. Leckman is the author or co-author of over 300 original articles published in peer-reviewed journals, seven books, and 120 book chapters.
President of the Italian Association of Trainers (AIF) since 2017 and Executive Director of Ernst&Young from 2017 to 2021, in the last 20 years he has expressly dedicated himself to the theme of learning and education in Digital Skills, Change Management and Learning Organization.
Full Professor of Organization and Human Resources Management at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he previously served as Director of the Department of Economics “Marco Biagi”. He is Vice President of the Scientific Committee of the Marco Biagi Foundation and
a faculty member at Bologna Business School. His research interests include organizational change and learning, technology and work, and organizational behavior. He is the author of numerous books and articles published by national and international publishers and peer-reviewed
journals. Since 2024, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Fondazione Telefono Azzurro ETS.
Full Professor of Computer Science at Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna since 2021. For twenty years he has been Full Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, maturing over the years a series of objectives: Director of the Master Program “ICT Security – Technology and Law; since 2003, Director of the Interdepartmental Research Center on Security and Security and Risk Prevention (CRIS) since 2007 and founder of the Cyber Academy.
DDS, PhD, is an international expert in global health, sustainable
development and child protection. She served as President and CEO of the World Childhood Foundation USA, appointed in 2015, and previously held senior leadership positions at Columbia University and the United Nations. She began her academic career at the Karolinska Institute, where she served as Director of Research and Postgraduate Education. Dr. Rubinstein has worked extensively on global health, education and child protection, with a particular focus on preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation and promoting child online safety. She has served on several international boards and advisory bodies, including the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the Early Childhood Peace Consortium at Yale University and UNICEF.
Psychologist, journalist, has worked at Il Telefono Azzurro since its origin dealing with the telephone lines. Afterwards, she started to follow the international activity of the association and moved to New York to coordinate the projects of the Children First Foundation. She then worked at The Walt Disney Company as a professional journalist dealing with the coordination of some editorial projects. In 2014 she started the activity Katja Iuorio Educational Consulting, to support young people who decide to undertake a course of study abroad. Since 1995 she has been the editor in chief of Azzurro Child.
The Foundation Child’s Scientific Committee is composed of seven members who are part of international renowned Universities and institutions.
The main role of the Scientific Committee is to support the Foundation’s research activity and spread the Foundation’s tenets in their respective fields.
The Scientific Committee’s members are listed below:
He is Professor of Molecular Psychiatry, Psychiatry & Human Behavior in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He is also Associate Professor at University of Milan. He achieved a Master Degree at the University of Milan and a PhD in Psychiatric Genetics at the University of Catania, Italy.
He is Psychiatrist-in-Chief focused on Developmental Psychopathology at the Department of NeuroSciences, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan. He is also Associate Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Director of the International PhD Course in Developmental Psychopathology at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan.
M.D, is Deputy Director of the of the NY State Office of Mental Health’s Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research. Dr. Leventhal is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, emeritus, at the University of Chicago and Professor of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is also an adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea
He is Chairman of the Dept. of Pediatrics at the University of Parma, Italy. He published about 253 peer reviewed papers mainly related to Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology, Growth, and Clinical Genetics. He is member of various scientific organizations – such as the Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP), the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), and the Italian Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (SIEDP), and he is Editor in Chief of the Italian Journal of Pediatrics.
He is Ordinary Professor of Pediatrics at University of Bari, Italy. He is specialized in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology. He is Director of the Department of Biomedicine of developmental age. He is also Director of the Pediatric Hospitals B. Trambusti and S. Maggiore within the Policlinics of Bari, Italy.
He is Director of the Pediatric Clinic of Novara and Ordinary Professor of Pediatrics at University of Western Piedmont “A. Avogadro”, Italy. He is ordinary member of the Endocrine Society, the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), and the Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP). Prof. Bona’s research activity has produced about 630 publications mainly related to Nuclear Medicine, Pediatric Endocrinology, genetics and Social Pediatrics.
He is Director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in Paris. He is also President of the Ecole des Parents et des Educateurs d’Ile de France.
On November 12, 2025, the Foundation hosted the international conference “The Dignity of Children and Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” at the Apostolic Chancery in Rome.
The event brought together leading voices from academia, institutions, science, and technology to explore the ethical, legal, social, and anthropological implications of Artificial Intelligence. Continuing the path of the Child Dignity Alliance, the aim of this conference was to foster dialogue across disciplines and cultures, promoting a shared vision of digital humanism rooted in respect, empathy, and responsibility.
On the occasion of the high-profile international meeting, a Declaration of intent was signed calling on governments, institutions, companies, and citizens to jointly build a new human pact for the digital era based on the dignity and protection of the youngest. The document was presented on November 13 to Pope Leo XIV, who received the conference participants in an audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
The Warsaw Conference (27-28 May 2022, Royal Castle, Warsaw), organized by the Foundation Child and Telefono Azzurro, gathered mental health professionals, academics, policymakers, civil society organization, clergy, and private sector representatives, resulting in an urgent call for action to support Ukraine in addressing mental health needs of their children.
The Conference, followed by an expert workshop, included extraordinary participation of many experts and leaders in the international mental health community, as well as Ukrainian and Polish colleagues. It resulted in an urgent call for action to support Ukraine in addressing mental health needs of their children and formed a significant starting point with a credible scientific base for the process that will move from words to actions.
In October 2017 leaders from academia, research, civil society, government, media, and religion gathered in Rome for the World Congress “Child Dignity in the Digital World”, to discuss online child sexual abuse and its impact on children’s lives. A Declaration of Rome was adopted, built on the principle that every child has a right to dignity and safety, and on the assumption that this problem can only be solved through global solutions involving governments, faiths, companies, and institutions:
“In this era of the internet the world faces unprecedented challenges if it is to preserve the rights and dignity of children and protect them from abuse and exploitation. These challenges require new thinking and approaches, heightened global awareness and inspired leadership.”
On 6 October 2017 the Declaration of Rome was presented to Pope Francis who said, “You have pointed out a variety of different ways to promote concrete cooperation among all concerned parties working to combat the great challenge of defending the dignity of minors in the digital world. I firmly and enthusiastically support the commitments.”
A call for global action to protect the world’s children and stop the abuse of their rights
Each child is precious. Each child is endowed by his creator with basic human rights. Yet, the rights of millions of children each year are abused and violated. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child spells out the rights of the world’s children in 54 articles. Among these enumerated rights are:
Articles 34 and 35 are further enhanced by the Convention’s Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
Yet, in spite of this historic framework there is abundant evidence that the rights of the world’s children are being violated on a daily basis in all parts of the globe.
There are indications that with the advent of the Internet, the abuse and exploitation of children have become even greater problems. For the first time in human history, millions of people have easy, virtually anonymous access to images of the sexual abuse of children online. There is also growing evidence that organized criminals are marketing and selling children as commodities online.
Perhaps most alarming is the fact that child trafficking and child sexual exploitation have become an industry. Why would organized criminals engage in the sale and trade of children? The reasons are obvious. Children are plentiful and easily accessed; this illicit business is easy, low cost, and there is a huge consumer market for the children; it is enormously profitable; and it is low risk, far less risky than the illegal trade in drugs, weapons, tobacco, etc.
Our goal must be to increase the risk and eliminate the profitability of this illicit industry. A key element in achieving this goal is to mobilize world leaders to attack the demand worldwide for sex and other illegal activity involving children.
The attendees of this forum believe that the world is facing a crisis in its efforts to preserve the rights of children and protect all children from abuse and sexual exploitation. This crisis requires new thinking, new approaches, and new global awareness. In much of the world today there is inadequate law, inadequate awareness and knowledge, and inadequate capacity to act effectively to address this problem.
The people of the world look to governments and international bodies to enact and enforce laws, treaties, and protocols to preserve the rights of children and prevent the exploitation of children in all its forms. We look to law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary to enforce such laws fairly and aggressively in order to protect the world’s children. Yet, government alone is not the answer. We must mobilize caring, concerned citizens around the world. We must awaken the public to the toll of abuse and exploitation on our most vulnerable citizens. We must speak together in a strong, loud voice, demanding change and calling upon world leaders to act.
Private corporations must join in this effort, bringing innovation and new solutions to our fight against the traffickers and exploiters. New technologies are dramatically improving the quality of life for millions of people. Yet, these same technologies present new opportunities for exploiters and those who victimize children. The same companies which develop these new technologies must be an integral part of the effort to ensure that the technologies are not misused to harm children.
The fight to protect children is one which can unify citizens in every country, every culture and every religion. The poet Kahlil Gibran wrote, “Keep me away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.” The attendees of this Roman Forum call upon world leaders and people everywhere to join us in a global campaign to protect the world’s children.
In July 2003, a group of leading experts in child trauma from North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia gathered in Rome (the Rome Groupe) to present their clinical findings and research advances as well as to seek out a way to integrate them with the current state of knowledge in this area. The meeting was organized under the auspices of Foundation Child and the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.
This initiative led to the Rome Declaration on Caring for Children in Wartime, Terrorism and Natural Disasters, calling on governments worldwide to invest in prevention, treatment, and research for children affected by trauma.
The Foundation Child is interconnected with international associations, universities, Ngos and other institutional organizations. These links are crucial when it comes to create and implement projects and initiatives worldwide.
Useful links to our parnter’s webpages:
YALE UNIVERSITY, CHILD STUDY CENTER
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
IACAPAP, THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED PROFESSIONS
SOPSI, SOCIETA’ ITALIANA DI PSICOPATOLOGIA
ICMEC, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN