International Missing Children's Day

FAQs

Call the hotline if you are a:

child who is missing from home / care or a child who is thinking of leaving home / care
parent or carer of a missing child
child, young person, or adult who has information about a missing child

Make a report to the police if you know of a child who has gone missing. This can be done by anybody, not just the parents or carers. You may also call the 116 000 hotline for support, advice, and to share valuable information about a missing child.

Who answers the calls?

Professionally trained Hotline Operators.

The 116 000 hotline is not available in my country, who can I contact instead?

Always contact your national police to report a missing child or to share information relating to a missing child.

Other national hotlines or children’s organisations are available in your country, you can find this online.

Who can call the 116 000 hotline?

Everyone. Children, young people, parents or carers, families, and third party adults.

If you know about a missing child or if you know of a child at risk of going missing, the 116 000 hotline will be able to support you.

What information am I required to give when I call the 116 000 hotline?

You will be asked for details related to the missing child and their circumstances.

The more information provided the more help this will be for the protection of the child.

Every day Missing Children Europe and its member organisations across Europe strive to protect and empower children to prevent them from going missing and to keep them from harm when they do. On every 25th of May, we commemorate International Missing Children’s Day (IMCD) to raise awareness and support the 116000 hotlines devoted to provide crucial support to those who are missing, at risk and to the families affected across Europe.

Press Release

Join us in raising awareness by sharing our #MissingPieces campaign

This year’s edition marks the 40th celebration of International Missing Children’s Day, which began as an observance day and now highlights the efforts of those working to bring our missing children home and the need for continued action and cooperation from individuals, law enforcement agencies, and governments. 

We would like to invite everyone to raise awareness of the 116000 hotlines, available across Europe to provide missing children and their families with FREE emotional, psychological, legal and administrative support 24/7 in 32 European countries. They are vital to prevent, protect and empower children and families faced with child disappearances.

How can you raise awareness?

Join us in taking action:

1) Change your profile picture by using our template, which you can find here

2) Display this symbol of solidarity, we raise awareness and show support for those affected by the disappearance of children. Let’s create a powerful visual statement that speaks volumes!

3) Read our press release to learn more about the cause and how you can make a difference. Together, we can bring hope to those who need it most and contribute to the ongoing efforts in reuniting families.

Spread the word, change your profile picture, and let’s make a collective impact on this #InternationalMissingChildrenDay. Together, we can write a story of love, resilience, and reunions.

Want to do more?

Help us raise funds to continue the support and coordination of the European network of 116 000 hotlines and the implementation of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM), an essential tool to guarantee quality service for all hotlines across Europe.

Each donation of 25EUR will help us maintain a monthly CRM license for one hotline. This allows us to keep track of details and updates on missing children cases and ease cross-border cooperation between hotlines operating in different countries, to better prevent and efficiently find missing children whilst support their families.

Make a donation: together we can make a difference