Making sense of absence: remembering the missing

All around the world, people go missing every day. For every missing person, there are countless people missing them. How do those left make sense of their absence? How do they privately and publicly remember their loved ones? Join us on International Day of the Disappeared to commemorate those who have gone missing and stand in solidarity with those left behind.

People going missing is felt on a personal and communal level. But it also has a wider impact on society, especially in post-conflict settings, as the ongoing and inconclusive nature of this experience impacts on the possibilities for reconciliation.

On the 30th August we will be joined by award-winning artist Laia Abril, who will present a selection of her work with families of missing people in Peru ahead of her exhibition opening in Geneva's Centre de la Photographie in November 2018. Social anthropologist and Missing expert Dr Jill Stockwell will also explain how memories of disappearance can be a disruptive force for reconciliation post-conflict. The event will be hosted by ICRC Director General, Yves Daccord.

In marking the International Day of the Disappeared we invite you to honour those missing. By acknowledging the complexities of the humanitarian impact they leave, thus, in a small way, provide an opportunity to be recognized.