Protection of missing children

The Team for introducing the Amber Alert system in Serbia was formed by the government at the beginning of the year 2023 by order of the Minister of the Interior Affairs. ASTRA has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs on missing children cases since 2014, and we run the European missing children hotline in Serbia 116000, starting in 2012. Bearing that all in mind and many years of expertise, we have become one of two NGOs included in the Team. Based on the previous work, the main principles of the System's functioning for early warning of the public in Serbia in cases of missing children were determined. The System, which is called AMBER alert in many countries, will be called "Find me" in our country or in local "Pronai me." It has been repeated several times that it will start operating in November 2023.

In order to collect and transfer as much relevant knowledge as possible to our colleagues in the Team, about the functioning of this System and good practices, we used the opportunity for a study visit to Albania. The study visit took place on June 13 and 14, and it was organized by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in partnership with CRCA / ECPAT of Albania and the Albanian National Police, is working to implement the AMBER Alert system in Albania. ASTRA representatives had the opportunity to participate in the "AMBER Alert in Albania: Law Enforcement and First Responders" training.

This training provided theoretical and practical skills to the Albanian State Police and Albanian First Responders (such as hotline and helpline analysts) on the issue of Missing Children, particularly the AMBER Alert system. The training will tackle the issue of missing children in Albania, regionally and globally, discuss the current methods and practices in Greece and USA, focus on the AMBER Alert system, the protocols to be put in place and followed, and propose a practical exercise to put into practice what was learned.

Bearing in mind that the process of introducing an early warning system in cases of missing children in Serbia almost coincides with the establishment of AMBER Alert in Albania, this was an ideal opportunity to exchange experiences and expertise regarding the process of establishing the System, insights in the challenges that accompany that process, but and observed trends in the field of child disappearances in both countries.

On this occasion, ASTRA representatives shared the findings and conclusions of the ten-year work practice report of the European number for missing children in Serbia 116000, and the findings of a comparative analysis SYSTEM OF EARLY ALERT in Missing Children Cases.