Kenya has launched its first Emergency Child Alert(KECA) program in a bid to aid in the recovery of missing persons.
The program is a collaboration between Meta, the Directorate Criminal Investigation’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, and the Missing Child organisation.
Speaking during the launch, Interior PS Raymond Omollo together with Missing Child Foundation CEO Maryanne Munyendo on Monday said that the program will be effective in prompt alerts through the Meta applications.
“We have officially launched the Kenya Emergency Child Alert (KECA) program that leverages the extensive reach of Facebook and Instagram to promptly notify users about abducted children, aiding in their recovery,” Omollo said.
“This initiative is part of the Meta Amber Alerts program and Kenya becomes the 34th country worldwide and the 3rd in Africa to adopt this crucial technological innovation, following South Africa and Nigeria.”
PS Raymond noted that technology has currently enabled a faster process of searching for missing individuals.
“The use of technology in finding missing persons has transformed search and rescue efforts, offering powerful tools and strategies to locate individuals swiftly and efficiently,” Omollo said.
“This system is designed to help find missing children by tapping into the extensive network of Facebook and Instagram to instantly notify users of missing children.”
Munyendo was also in agreement giving examples of how the program has been successful in countries such as America.
“Since Meta launched Amber Alerts in 2015, they have assisted in hundreds of successful child endangerment cases in the United States and around the world,” Munyendo said.
“We know that the chances of finding a missing child increase when more people are on the lookout, especially in the first few hours. With this update, if an amber alert is activated by law enforcement and you are in the designated search area, the alert will appear in your feed.”
The alert will include important details about the child such as a photo, description, location of the abduction and any other available information that can be provided.
People can also share the alert with friends to further spread the word.
These alerts are rare and specific to the search area.
In case an individual gets an alert, it means there is an active search for a missing child nearby.
To know who to show these alerts to, Meta uses a variety of signals and location services.
