Prague hosts expert conference on Child Alert Systems in EU Member States
An expert conference on Child Alert Systems in the EU Member States was held at the Prague Congress Centre on Tuesday 19 May 2009. The aim was to present alert systems for missing children used in some Member States and in this way to help introduce such systems in other countries.
The conference was opened by Czech Interior Minister Martin Pecina. “The theme of child alert systems is closely related to one of the Czech Presidency priorities –‘an open and safe Europe’. The number of children who go missing is increasing not only in the Czech Republic, but in the whole of Europe. This problem must be dealt with in a comprehensive way at European level, particularly in view of the almost unlimited freedom of movement in Europe”, said Interior Minister Pecina. He then went on to explain that the debate on the need for ‘EU Child Alert Systems’ and how they work was launched by the Portuguese Presidency in 2007, at the informal meeting of Interior and Justice Ministers. The informal meeting also emphasised that the Child Alert Systems should not result in a supranational system but interconnect national systems and be applicable in clearly defined cases involving an international element.
Delegates from France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Greece presented their alert systems in the morning part of the conference.
During the second part of the conference Director of the Department of Prevention of Crime Jitka Gjuričová introduced a project initiated by the Ministry of the Interior – the “National Coordination Mechanism” aiding in the search for missing children – that is analogous to the Child Alert System. This system was developed to ensure rapid and successful retrieval of missing children and it anticipates the involvement of the general public in the search for missing children and a guarantee of the necessary psychological support for families of missing children.
The national coordination mechanism of searches for missing children is built on the following 4 fundamental pillars:
- Police investigation (which is already excellent with the rate of success at 98%)
- Sophisticated information system (cooperation with the media and mobile operators)
- Cooperation with the general public
- Expert psychological support for the families of the victims.
As an innovation, cooperation with mobile operators, who could inform the general public in the locality where the child went missing via short text messages, will be introduced.
Caroline Humer from the U.S. International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children delivered a speech in the afternoon part of the conference. The event was concluded by Michael Weiss from the National Headquarters of SIRENE who introduced the results of the questionnaire survey aimed at the issue of improved cooperation in the search for missing children with the Schengen Information System.
Contact:
Markéta Matlochová, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of the Interior
Tel.: +420 974 832 972–4, GSM: +420 603 191 750, E-mail: matlochova@mvcr.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:20
