Thousands of children disappear around the world each day and time is a critical factor in finding them unharmed (całych i zdrowych) and in their safe return home. To combat this phenomenon, countries in Europe have been implementing national child alert systems (The European Child Alert Automated System – ECAAS). The systems are a public emergency broadcast system (awaryjny system nadawania publicznego) that notifies the public when a child has gone missing and enlists the public’s assistance to find the child.

Poland is ready to launch its Child Alert campaign – a system designed to fight against child abduction and kidnapping.

This year alone, police statistics state that a total of 6,485 children were reported missing throughout the country: 382 (under 7), 811 (aged 7-13) and 5,292 (aged 14-17). These stats are comparable with 2012, however do show a sharp increase compared to 2011 due to a rule which now includes “parental abduction”.

This new system is designed to locate the child as soon as possible by sending out information about the disappearance to a great number of people who may be able to supply a potential lead. The system has been working effectively in some European countries and has been a huge success in finding endangered missing children. However as borders within the EU are relaxed, more and more children are transported across national borders and cooperation between member states is crucial to successful finding our missing children.

So far, Child Alert is operational in 11 European Union countries; Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Romania, the UK and Italy. It is also currently in use in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico and the United States.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)