International Missing Children's Day Date in the current year: May 25, 2024

International Missing Children's Day Every year hundreds of children are abducted, and only few of them are recovered. International Missing Children's Day, that is annually observed on May 25, raises public awareness about the missing children and spreads message of hope among their families.

On May 25, 1979 a 6-year-old boy Etan Patz from New York City was kidnapped and later killed. Stan Patz, Etan's father, did everything possible to find the boy and started a new campaign that involved printing portraits of missing children on milk boxes. In 1983 President of the USA Ronald Reagan declared May 25 to be National Missing Children's Day.

In 1998 the US's National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children launched a joint venture and established the Global Missing Children's Network. This network connected the best practices of 22 countries, that are currently its members.

The first events were organized in member-states in 2001. These events spotlight the global problem of child abduction and suggest parents some steps they can take to protect their children, Annually all member-states of the network honor the missing children and celebrate the recovered ones on May 25.

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International Observances

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international missing children's day, child abduction, etan patz, global missing children's network, international observance