ICMP works with governments, civil society organizations, justice institutions, international organizations and others throughout the world to address the issue of people who have gone missing as a result of armed conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration and other causes.
As the only international organization that is exclusively tasked to address this issue, ICMP is actively engaged in developing institutions and civil society capacity, promoting legislation, fostering social and political advocacy, and developing and providing technical expertise to locate and identify the missing.
ICMP works with governments to develop their institutional capacity to address the issue of missing persons efficiently and impartially.
ICMP helps governments to develop legislation to safeguard the rights of families of the missing, and it works with civil society organizations to empower them to advocate for their rights.
ICMP assists the process of justice by ensuring that governments adhere to a rule-of-law-based approach to investigating disappearances and it provides evidence in criminal trials.
ICMP directly assists governments with fieldwork. It has been involved in the excavation of more than 3,000 mass and clandestine gravesites and has spearheaded the application of advanced forensic techniques to locate and recover missing persons.
ICMP maintains a unique, specialized Online Inquiry Center (OIC) and Integrated Data Management System (iDMS) that manages all data pertaining to its missing persons process.
It operates the world’s leading DNA human identification facility. To date, more than 20,000 missing persons from around the world have been identified using DNA with ICMP’s assistance.
ICMP also provides training and education programs to a wide range of individuals, including government authorities, prosecutors and judges, NGOs, families of the missing and forensic practitioners.
