ChildRescue App Launch


The Decision Support Systems Laboratory of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens announces the launch of ChildRescue App in Belgium and Greece and calls for the public to download the app on their smartphones and to contribute to finding missing children in Europe.

The ChildRescue App will be available both on Google Play Store for Android and on App Store for iOS. The launch is planned on 28 July 2020 in Greece and one month later, on 28 August in Belgium. Other European countries will follow.

Each year, over 250,000 cases of missing children are reported in Europe; almost one child every two minutes. At the same time, about half of unaccompanied migrant minors disappear on some part of their journey to Europe. The problem of missing children and the dangers that unaccompanied migrant minors are facing is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Legal, psychological and sociological factors influence the evolution of such cases, and when it comes to situations where every minute that passes can determine a child's life, technology can be a critical catalyst.

About ChildRescue:

ChildRescue is an ambitious EU funded project that aims to assist the investigation of missing children and the discovery and identification of unaccompanied minors using state-of-the-art technologies and an innovative methodology. The Decision Support Systems Laboratory of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens is leading the effort, and is assisted by the following partners: Missing Children Europe, Child Focus, The Smile of the Child, Hellenic Red Cross, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, SingularLogic, UBITECH, MADE Group, Suite5 Data intelligence solutions.

After numerous tests and real case trials over the past two years both in Belgium and Greece, this ground-breaking platform is ready to become public as an App for iOS and Android devices.

ChildRescue leverages the collective awareness of citizens around the phenomenon of missing children and tackles the issue of child disappearances by improving the effectiveness of missing children investigations. The application and its platform can be easily adopted by other voluntary organisations and expert groups that traditionally work in the field of missing children, offering them the benefits of social innovation.

https://www.childrescue.eu/download_app/

About Child Focus:

Child Focus is the Belgian Foundation of Missing and Sexually exploited Children and the official operator of the ChildRescue Platform in Belgium.

www.childfocus.be

For further information please feel free to contact Selyna Ayuso Ferrandiz, elyna.ayusoferrandiz@childfocus.org or +32 473 81 17 82

About The Smile of the Child:

The Smile of the Child is the largest civil society organisation in Greece involved in childcare and child protection. 2020 is a milestone for the Organisation that celebrates 25 years of contribution, offering services to all children in Greece nationwide, regardless of their nationality and religion, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The Smile of the Child is the official Operator of the ChildRescue Platform in Greece.

www.hamogelo.gr

For further information please contact: Press Office “The Smile of the Child”, Press@hamogelo.gr or +30 210 3606140

About Hellenic Red Cross

Hellenic Red Cross participation is in full compliance with the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement Fundamental Principles and restrictions in regards to publishing and sharing information and personal data. Access to HRC information is possible only to users certifi­ed by the Organisation. The National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies all around the globe engage only trained and certi­fied volunteers. The Hellenic Red Cross operates the ChildRescue Platform for their network of certified volunteers.