Brussels, 01 June – Missing Children Europe (MCE) brought together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and child protection experts in Brussels for its 2026 Annual Conference, “Safeguarding Missing Children: Sexual Violence and Mental Health Resilience”, following the General Assembly, held the day before.
The event, co-organised with “Hope for Children” – CRC Policy Center, was hosted by the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU. It opened with contributions from Elena Ioannou, Attaché Social Policy and Equality at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union; Clea Hadjistephanou Papaellina, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare of Cyprus; Andria Neocleous, Executive Director of “Hope for Children” – CRC Policy Center; and Sandrine Pépit, Vice-President of Missing Children Europe. Loucas Fourlas, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, Cyprus), also contributed through a video message.
The conference explored how child disappearance intersects with grooming, sexual violence, and mental health. And discussions underlined that children rarely disappear in isolation: running away or going missing can often be connected to deeper experiences of abuse, grooming, mental health struggles, or lack of safety.
The conference explored the issue through three thematic panels.
The first focused on police investigations and cross-border cooperation, highlighting the urgent need for harmonised data collection to support effective responses in missing children cases across Europe, with contributions from representatives from law enforcement and academia from Greece, Belgium and Finland.
The second panel addressed online grooming and digital risks for children, bringing together child protection experts from Belgium, Cyprus and Serbia.
The final panel examined mental health issues as both a driver and a consequence of disappearance, examining how psychological well-being intersects with identity, belonging and vulnerability, particularly for already marginalised young people. Drawing on perspectives from clinical psychology, child helplines, youth advocacy and mental health policy, the discussion highlighted the complex factors that can place young people at greater risk.
Closing the conference, Aagje Ieven, Secretary-General of Missing Children Europe, and Andria Neocleous, Executive Director, Hope for Children– CRC Policy Center, thanked participants and underlined the need for stronger evidence to drive policy change:
In the afternoon, interactive case-study sessions fostered practical exchanges and cross-sector collaboration to better protect children at risk. As closing words, Aagje Ieven spoke a heartfelt thank you to the audience and podiums. She pointed out that “We need the data and we need to be convincing, if we are asking for big changes. We have to make much better arguments.”
Participants called for stronger cross-border cooperation, more harmonised data collection and child-centred support systems that recognise both the risks that can lead to disappearance, and the harm children may experience while missing.
The conference followed Missing Children Europe’s General Assembly, where members reflected on achievements, discussed strategic priorities and took part in discussions to strengthen collaboration across the network as we continue working to protect missing children and support their families.
Speakers included:
Panel I – The Value of Cross-Sector Data on Child Disappearance
Moderator: Aagje Ieven, Secretary-General of Missing Children Europe
- Stavros Chatzisymeonidis, Hellenic Police and PhD Psychology at the University of Liverpool
- Sami Isoniemi, D.Sc. (Admin) & Detective Chief Superintendent, University of Vaasa Alumni
- Gerry Van Loock, Judicial Commissioner, Head of Missing Persons Unit, Federal Judicial Police, PEN-MP representative and Vice President of the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams (ENFAST)
Panel II – From Risk Identification to Protection: Addressing Grooming and Disappearance
Moderator: Paola Rando, Senior Project Officer Missing Children Europe
- Ioanna Drousiotou, Operations Coordinator Children’s House, “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center (Cyprus)
- Niels Van Paemel, Policy Advisor, from Child Focus (Belgium)
- Marija Vukasinovic, Coordinator of Victim Support Unit, ASTRA Anti-Trafficking Action (Serbia)
Panel III – Link between children’s mental health and disappearance
Moderator: Tania Masia, Director of Learning and Innovation, “Hope For Children” – CRC Policy Center
- Semeli Vyzakou, Clinical Psychologist, Directorate of Mental Health Services (SHSO Cyprus)
- Marina Sola Morena, Lawyer, Fundación ANAR (Spain)
- Burak Keşanlıoğlu, Member of MCE Youth Board
- Ann-Katrin Orr, Policy Officer, Mental Health Europe
Find photos of the Conference via this link, taken by Alain Sannen (to his homepage).
Press enquiries
Patricia Morais, Senior Communications Officer at Missing Children Europe, patricia.morais@missingchildreneurope.eu
About Missing Children Europe
Missing Children Europe is the European federation for missing and sexually exploited children, connecting 33 organisations from 27 European countries committed to prevent that children go missing and to protect them from any violence, abuse or exploitation that leads to or results from going missing.