The COVID-19 pandemic has driven home how meaningful family connections are, especially in times of crisis and uncertainty. Maintaining contact in situations of separation is crucial. Family members will not stop looking for their loved ones. The ICRC and National Societies of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent have continued their support during the pandemic to respond to the various needs of families (economic and psychosocial, among others).
Hundreds of thousands of people are missing worldwide due to armed conflict, violence, migration, and natural disasters. Some go missing in action. Some are forcibly disappeared. Each year, thousands lose contact with their loved ones as they flee violence or seek a better life elsewhere. Many never return and are never heard from again.
For150 years, the Central Tracing Agency (CTA) has reconnected and reunited families. It continues to do so today, adapting its means to the evolving reality. The CTA is today at the heart of the ICRC’s efforts worldwide to protect and restore family links, search for and identify missing persons, protect the dignity of the dead, and ensure that the needs of missing people’s families are addressed.
#CTA150 Learn more about this in our live event on 11.05.