In the European Union, a staggering 130,000 international couples set the course for divorce each year. In 2022, notable 24% of cases managed by hotlines dedicated to missing children revolved around heart-wrenching instances of parental abductions. Among these, more than half were knotted within the complexities of cross-border dynamics.
The Cross-border Family Mediators Network was launched in 2012 as part of the EU funded EU-TIM project coordinated by Child Focus in Belgium, with partners MiKK from Germany, Centrum IKO in the Netherlands and KULeuven in Belgium.
In 2014, the coordination of the network was handed over to Missing Children Europe, the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children. This federation unites 32 organisations across 27 European countries. Missing Children Europe also coordinates a network of hotlines for missing children, now operational in 32 countries through the number 116 000.