GAM Statement

At this panel discussion on empowering victims, the GAM intervened from the floor in support of listening to families. Laetitia Kirianoff Crimmins, Head of the Humanitarian Section, Swiss Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva speaking on behalf of the GAM said the following:

I speak today on behalf of the Global Alliance for the Missing, consisting of Argentina, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Croatia, Estonia, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and The Gambia.

 Members of the Global Alliance for the Missing have committed to joint diplomatic efforts to ensure that preventing and responding to the occurrence of missing persons, including enforced disappearances, remains a focus on the international agenda. In the two years that the Global Alliance has been active, it has sought to reiterate in several fora the importance of preventing and responding to the occurrence of missing persons, and the need to keep families of missing persons central in any processes relating to their missing relatives.

As a group, we had the opportunity to hear from families of missing persons at the 3rd ICRC International Conference of Families of Missing Persons in November 2023. Families told us how much they need and search for answers, how essential for them it is to know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. They also told us how vital it is for them to get justice. They described the emotional suffering of living with the absence of a loved one, and how it is compounded by daily administrative, legal, and economic burdens. In addition to economic security, mental health and psychosocial support, it is important that States put in place a legal framework that provides a status of a missing person so that their families are not faced with administrative and legal hurdles. 

Families of missing persons are not only victims – they are also often the first to search for and seek answers on behalf of their loved ones, and in many instances they also advocate for their needs and therefore influence and participate in relevant processes. Engaging more proactively with families’ associations, and where needed providing them assistance and support to formalise informally convened groups, is one way of ensuring continued engagement based on the local context and needs. 

The Global Alliance for the Missing remains committed to listening and learning on the multifaceted needs and agency of the families of missing persons, including those aspects related to enforced disappearances, in order to enhance the group’s advocacy on what continues to be a pressing concern in the international domain.