Rozan's Youth Helpline (YHL) was initiated in 2001 in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University 's Center for Communications Program (JHU/CCP) with funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. YHL-Islamabad was one of the first ever toll-free telephone hotlines set up in the country on the highly sensitive subject of adolescent reproductive health (ARH). The others were the two Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) help lines set up in Lahore and Karachi also set up by JHU/CCP.

In our society there is a lack of guidance and information available to adolescents on issues relating to sexuality and adolescence. Rozan's program Aangan (which has been working on the issue of child sexual abuse for over thirteen years) was regularly sought out by youngsters who had questions about their changing bodies. Though Rozan never actively campaigned as a source of information on such issues, but by virtue of it being the only service that provided information on this taboo subject to this age group, Aangan was flooded by such inquiries, usually in the form of letters.

The children who wrote for help had questions regarding sexual health issues and a number of myths that were causing them to feel guilty and anxious. The issues of masturbation, virginity, homosexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual experimentation, and relationships were the ones they had the most concerns and questions about. An oft-repeated emotion in the letters was the relief to have someone to whom they could address these concerns and questions to. The letters supported the fact that children and adolescents have very few opportunities to voice their sexual health concerns and this, in turn, has detrimental effects on their emotional health.

As a result, in 2000 Rozan was invited by the JHU/CCP to initiate a telephone help line that could provide this much-needed support to the youth. The help line was officially launched in 2001 with an aim to provide an opportunity for youth to seek information, counseling and safe referrals regarding issues associated with adolescence.