This report examines the feasibility of a technologically enabled system to help respond to the phenomenon of cross border child trafficking in South Asia, and makes recommendations on how to proceed with a pilot project in selected areas of Bangladesh, Nepal and India. The study was commissioned by the Missing Child Alert (MCA) programme which is an initiative led by Plan International (referred to as Plan in this report). Plan works in 50 developing countries to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty.
As part of a body of research undertaken between August and November 2012, interviews were conducted with more than 50 organisations and individuals. These included police, child welfare officials, government ministries, local and municipal government officials in each of the three countries; local and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the area of child protection; regional and international agencies; technology providers; and authorities that had experience of implementing missing child alert systems in other parts of the world.
The findings of the research are grouped in five broad areas. These are the legal, political and bureaucratic landscape; information management and child protection; technical development; stakeholder involvement and governance; and long term vision for the MCA programme and the technologically enabled system.