Lost 2 | Press Release

Launch of a new Erasmus+ funded project focused on the formal recognition of a Qualification needed in the search for Missing Persons

On January 17^th and 18^th, 2023, LOST2 Definition of competences at European level for the recognition of the qualification project was launched in Matera (IT), in the scope of its Kick-off Meeting, organised by the project’s coordinator ARLAB Basilicata Regional Employment and Learning Agency (IT).

This meeting, which gathered all representatives from the 9 institutions that comprise LOST2 pan-European consortium (BE, EL, ES, IT, NO and PT), was the starting point of all results and outcomes to be developed during the project’s implementation period (December 2022 – May 2025).

Every year, more than 250.000 children are missing in Europe^[1]. Despite the efforts made by the relevant authorities, it is clear that the current resources available in the investigation field are not enough to cope with these numbers. Moreover, it is imperative to raise civil society’s awareness and to train it as a way to contribute to the mitigation of the Missing People phenomenon.

LOST2 partners will work collaboratively in this innovative and ambitious project that addresses this phenomenon in Europe (including missing minors and migrants) while contributing for the innovation of the  Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector through the definition of a new Qualification focused on the Consultant in Information Analysis and Research of Missing People professional profile, created on the previous Erasmus+ funded project LOST – Learning Opportunities, inStruments and Investigation Techniques^[2]. This new Qualification will reply to the need for:

• Creating a new international/European general system for the search of missing people to fight this phenomenon;
• Addressing the lack of a real modular Qualification aligned with the Learning Outcome’s approach, identifying the required skills and knowledge embedded in a profession that deals with search for missing people, and are considered similar to other categories of the investigation area, such as law enforcement or criminology;
• Defining the areas of competence and the role of the professional in relation to national regulatory systems, law enforcement procedures and volunteer organisations that provide support services to families;
• Focusing on the development of the required digital competences applied to investigation/research of missing people.

LOST2 expected results intend to have a positive impact on the adequacy and readiness of search systems to fight the growing phenomenon of missing persons across Europe. Those results will benefit law enforcement services and public institutions, Missing People associations helping them and supporting families. They will benefit Migration authorities and their hotline operators, guardianship institutions, child protection Non-Governmental Organisations and associations working with immigration, and last but not least families and local communities and the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

[1] https://missingchildreneurope.eu/about-us/#:~:text=Each%20year%20over%20250%2C%20000,%2C%20violence%2C%20abuse%20and%20exploitation

[2] https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2017-1-IT01-KA202-006241 (Retrieved in January 2023)

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