25th May - International Missing Children's Day

1. Origin of the day May 25

On May 25, 1979, six years old Etan Patz was abducted in New York. He was
never seen again. Over the following years, different organizations began to
highlight this date, but it was not until 1983 that the President of the United
States declared May 25 "Missing Children's Day".
This day has also been commemorated in Canada since 1986 and has had
since then, an international dimension.

2. Purpose of the day May 25

The main purpose of the International Missing Children’s Day is to encourage
the population to think about all the children who have been reported missing in
Europe and around the world and to spread a message of hope and solidarity
on an international scale to parents without any news of their children and who
do not know where their child is or what has become of him/her.
The purpose is also a reflection about prevention strategies to promote at the
European institutions and to implement in close collaboration with the authorities
in charge of education and social policy, justice and police.
The ultimate objective for this day is to be commemorated every year in all the
countries members of the European Federation for Missing and Sexually
Exploited Children and, as far as possible, in many other countries of the world.

3. Symbol of the day May 25

Inspired by the action carried out in Canada, it has been decided to choose the
forget-me-not as the symbol to be used for the International Missing Children’s
Day on May 25 in Europe.
The biodegradable poster produced on the occasion of the Halifax Summit (17 June
1995) aimed to draw more attention to the cause of the environment. It could be
crumpled into a ball and buried in the ground. The seeds inside would produce forgetme-
nots. On the poster a child's hand could be seen. Two million forget-me-not seeds
were attached to the 50,000 posters using a water-soluble compound. The posters
were distributed to school-age children in the Halifax-Dartmouth region. They bore the
inscription "Seed of hope" and encouraged the population to sow the seeds of change -
- thus linking up with the Summit's political and economic discussions in the hope of a
greener future for our children.
In Belgium, little forget-me-nots pins (cloth material), are distributed for free to
the public in supermarkets and shopping centers as to the staff of firms,
hospitals, police, etc.