Education and Youth Minister Fayval Williams says Jamaica’s systems must be strengthened new alliances forged and innovative approaches adopted to address the complex and evolving challenges associated with missing children.

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency, CPFSA is hosting the Ananda Alert Regional Conference in Kingston today.

It’s being held under the theme, ‘Strengthening Responses to Missing Children, a Regional Exchange of Good Practices.’

The Conference comes ahead of tomorrow’s observance of International Missing Children’s Day.

It brings together key stakeholders from the Caribbean to strengthen Jamaica’s response to child disappearances.

Speaking at the opening session, Mrs. Williams says the information shared at the conference will be used to improve the systems in place.

The Youth Minister says there is a shared commitment to address the critical issue of missing children and enhance collaborative efforts to protect the most vulnerable.

She notes that the partnerships that exist are vital to ensure a swift and coordinated response to increase the number of children who are returned home safely.

Globally the problem of missing children continues to be a pervasive, complex and multi-faceted phenomenon that infringes on the rights of children, wreaking havoc on families.

International Missing Children’s Day is geared at raising awareness and maintaining public discourse about the issue of missing children.

It also provides an opportunity to reflect on families that are still in search of their loved ones and urges members of the public to remain vigilant in looking for missing children, while acknowledging the various agencies that address this issue.