Each year, the disappearance of children increases in our territory. Faced with this observation and on the occasion of the International Day of Missing Children, France launches on Monday 25 June 2009 a new call number (the same for all Europe!) "Missing children" : the 116 000.

Since this morning 9:00, you can have the new European number dedicated to the families of missing children! The 116,000, easily memorable, is now operational in ten countries : Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia. This free service, including from mobile phones, is now available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; in the long term, it should also be applied in all the member countries of the European Union.

Number 116 000 was created at the initiative of Missing Children Europe , the European federation for missing and sexually exploited children. The government entrusted the management to the actors of SOS missing children (Foundation for Children and INAVEM) on May 25 only.

116 000 Missing children is a personalized service to accompany families affected by disappearances, fugues and parental abductions. Its objective is to accompany and support them in a number of ways: from investigative services and judicial authorities, administrations and specialized associations. Under the guidance of professionals, distressed homes can also receive psychological support.

Since the creation of the device, 7400 calls have been processed and 2,500 families have been helped. Finally, the new European homogeneous number should make it possible for the judicial authorities to be more effective and, above all, to curb the increase in parental abductions, which are still very high.

More information: www.sosenfantsdisparus.fr