ICMP and OFU to Collaborate on Efforts To Account for Missing Children in Ukraine
The Hague, 24 March 2025: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the International Crimes Investigation Group (ICIG), which is part of OSINT for Ukraine (OFU), have launched a new collaboration to use open-source intelligence (OSINT) to support the search for missing children in Ukraine.
Under the project, ICMP and OFU will cooperate in collecting and mapping potential detention sites of deported children, inside and outside Ukraine, and other sites of potential forensic interest. They will also coordinate the work they are doing to gather information from relatives of missing persons, including relatives of missing children.
OFU is an independent, non-profit foundation committed to using open-source intelligence (OSINT) to promote truth, memory, and justice. Its mission is to leverage OSINT to investigate international crimes, counter disinformation, and support justice and accountability. Within OFU, the International Crimes Investigation Group (ICIG) focuses on providing guidance, investigative support, and potential evidence for international and European accountability bodies and like-minded NGOs to promote and defend justice and the rule of law.
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons from conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes, and to assist them in doing so. ICMP has signed agreements with responsible ministries and state institutions and with CSOs in Ukraine, and has developed a five-year strategy to help the authorities develop an effective, long-term missing persons process.
Through this collaboration, the OSINT capabilities of OFU and the investigative support of ICIG will help ICMP address the issue of missing children in Ukraine, combining the expertise and capacities of both organizations.
