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mented decline in the number of missing chil-
dren largely due to the initiation of the Ananda
Alert (similar to the Amber Alert system in the
United States). Still, around ten percent of them
are not found each year.
According to the Missing Person Monitoring
Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, 1,725
children went missing in 2016, 269 of whom
were not found. The Jamaican alert system is
named after 11-year-old Ananda Dean, who
was abducted on her way home from school in
2008 and her body found days later. The alert
program was established the following year.
Under the new arrangement, Facebook’s di-
rector of trust and safety Emily Vacher, who at-
tended the program’s May 1 launch in Kingston,
noted that Jamaica and the Office of the Chil-
dren’s Registry (OCR) are leaders in this area.
“When Facebook receives an alert from OCR,
within 15 minutes that alert will be prepared
and disseminated to the public,” she stated.
“When you see this missing child alert it pops
up as an Active Ananda Alert that will have the
picture of the missing child and a brief descrip-
tion.When you click ‘Learn More’ it will take you
off Facebook to the page prepared by the Glob-
al Missing Children Network (GMCN), where
you will see the age, height, weight, last cloth-
ing seen in, and a description of the vehicle or
license plate number if all that was witnessed.”
opening lines
She further explained that
there will be a share button for
users to post to their Facebook
timelines and monitor devel-
opments there. Vacher pointed
out that the omission of the
“Like” or “Comment” buttons
was deliberate, in order to pre-
vent people from giving tips
on recovering the child in a
place that might not be moni-
tored. Vacher said, too, that the
alerts that currently exist in
traditional media will not be
replaced; rather, they will be
enhanced using Facebook.