A seven-year-old boy went missing on the 7th of August this year. Three weeks ago when Likho Nhlanhla Ludidi was on his way to school in Protea Glen, Pretoria, he disappeared.

This weekend the Pink Ladies, a group of South Africans who help find missing children, sent an email to our office with this poster:

What really worries me is that the boy went missing on the 7th of August and today is the 1st of September. A story will appear in The Times tomorrow. That’s almost a month later. We know that the crucial hours for finding a missing child alive are the first 24.

What we need is a government-sponsored alert system similar to the ones in the US and France. 

The French system, Alert Enlevement, was introduced in 2006. It has been used on five occassions. All five children were successfully recovered.

This system involves a fast, focused and frequent media campaign. Poster-like information for TV, print media and the internet, and recorded messages for radio, public transport and podcasts are sent out as soon as possible.   It brings together police, the justice system, citizens and the media to help track down a missing child. And it works.

Shouldn’t we be introducing a similar system in our country?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.