Missing Children Europe

Each year, well over 250 000 children slip through the net of child protection systems in Europe. Runaways, parental abductions and children who go missing in the context of migration make up to 81.5% of missing children cases in the EU, but awareness and child protection responses for these children still require a lot of support.

At Missing Children Europe, we believe that all children should be able to rely on effective and holistic systems of child protection, where all measures are taken to empower and protect them from any situation of harm. Our mission is to enable the development of these effective and holistic systems by creating the link between research, laws and professionals on the ground to prevent children from going missing, support them and their families, and better safeguard them from any risk of violence and abuse that may lead to or result from going missing.

We work at the European level because missing children cases are not confined by national borders and therefore require European support structures and policies. Indeed, data from 32 European hotlines dedicated to missing children reveal that 14% of cases are cross-border in nature. This is why Missing Children Europe connects 30 grassroots NGOs from 26 countries who work towards the prevention and protection of children who go missing. We support the development of effective cross-border solutions, awareness raising campaigns, cooperation channels and supportive legislation to tackle the most pressing and ever-evolving issues that led to child disappearance.

We believe that, together, we can create a safer Europe for children.