UNICEF calls for action to find abductees

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has urged the Sudanese government and international donors to use new research on missing people in Sudan as an opportunity to resolve the issue. The new information is the result of an 18-month study carried out by an organisation, known as the Rift Valley Institute, on people abducted by militia groups in Sudan over the past 20 years, who are still missing. The research puts the number of children and adults whose families do not know of their whereabouts at about 10,380. In a statement, Joanna van Gerpen, the UNICEF representative in Sudan, said this had been "an absolutely vital initiative". "For the first time since 1983, the true extent of the abductions has been documented," she said. "It's a huge step in helping us search for the missing children and women. It drives home the fact that they are real people with real names and stories - not just statistics." According to the statement, the new information would make the search for those still missing "far more effective, far more meaningful, and far more hopeful". "In our view, empowering local governments and genuine community leaders - people who know their area and feel a responsibility toward it - is essential to progress," Van Gerpen said. "Knowledge of the names, clans and villages of nearly every missing child is an extraordinary tool. It should now be possible to search for every individual by name - although it will be a massive task."