Many people go missing every year, causing great distress to families, friends and loved ones. Collating data that will help better understand the way states engage with, and seek to solve, missing persons cases will be of great help to those involved in missing persons efforts.
In collaboration with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), an academic and student team from Bournemouth University is developing comprehensive data on how states deal with missing person cases.
Developing understanding of missing persons approaches globally
The Missing Persons Indicator Project is designed to progressively develop comprehensive data on states and their relationship with missing persons.
This includes continuous institutional mapping of legal avenues and mechanisms globally to address the issue of the missing, to respond to missing persons reports and to effectively investigate persons going missing or disappearing.
Data visualisation offers important overviews, facilitates comparison and captures trends.
At present, the team are researching structural indicators - examining the legal, regularity and institutional structures in place. A State who has signed and ratified a human rights treaty has expressed commitment to a certain set of human rights (Klinkner, 2021)
Structural indicators include:
- Context indicator - A qualitative assessment as to whether a State has experienced extraordinary events that may be correlated to a rise in missing persons cases.
- Structural indicator 1: The commitment shown by States to international legal instruments is an indicator of their duties and obligations in relation to missing persons.
- Structural indicator 2: Domestic legislation by States as an indicator of their duties and obligations in relation to missing persons.
- Structural indicator 3: Institutional framework(s) established by States as an indicator of their duties, obligation, and enactment of legislation in relation to missing persons.
Applicable rights
Andreas Kleiser
Director for Policy and Cooperation at the ICMP Andreas Kleiser
The ICMP works with governments to locate missing persons. The more and better data is available to conduct these activities, the more persons can be found...We are grateful for the students for their support.
Emerging research
- The MPIP student team will be collating real-time information on global developments related to missing persons and enforced disappearances through a process called ‘Horizon-Scanning’. This enables the researchers to remain informed of key updates including international institutional changes, domestic legislation, and global media narratives.
- In collaboration with the Business School (BUBS) the student researchers will explore the potential utility of AI to enhance the project. This may include: Using AI as a data-checker; analysing data sets; and identifying additional applications that may be of use as the research continues to progress.
- Currently the MPIP team is defining Process Indicators and determining how best to search for, analyse and record such data. Their focus will be on specific actions, procedures, and measures that are taken to address enforced disappearances in each State, for example, evidence of both a database of missing persons, and a database of those in detention.
- As the indicator research continues, the extensive data collated is being remodelled into in an interactive dashboard. The dashboard has a number of interesting features, including colour-coded comparative rating visualisations for individual States, access to a ‘Library’ of analysed sources, and the ability to filter States by population, income group, economy and GDP. This dashboard is continually evolving and is expected to play a key role in the final product that the ICMP will utilise for diplomatic purposes.
The image below depicts a singular view of the current dashboard:
A student-driven project
A diverse, international, inclusive group of student researchers has been assembled through an application, shortlisting and interviewing process.
Some of the students supporting the project. (From L-R: Angel, Emily (Project Manager), Lydia, Susie and Nichola)Training on research techniques, integrity and validity of research and data storage is provided by a team comprising law subject librarian, data expert and legal scholars.
Supported by MS Teams, a designated space on campus facilitates on-hand support to guide and direct the students.
Since 2021 the following undergraduate and postgraduate students, on a variety of degree courses, have dedicated their time freely to the project:
2021/22: Hannah O'Sullivan; Hayden Corby; Charlotte Quenault; Shaina Snashall; Siobhan McClatchey; Boluwatife Ojikutu; Mercy Adegbenro; Jumoke Ajileye; Lydia Gee; and Eve Daley.
2022/23: Farhana Patel; Chiedozie Chukwujiuba; Nichola Hunter-Warburton; Antoni Dembski; Rhiannon Appleby; Jack Jowett; Lydia Gee; and Hayden Corby.
2023/24: Lydia Gee; Angel Beaumont; Nichola Hunter-Warburton; Susie Moore; Lola Jones; Jazz White; Poppy Holland; Jasmin Sidhu-Bansal; Arman Ali; and Maise Lee.
