Meta and Ghana Police partner to find missing children faster with AMBER alert

Meta has teamed up with the Ghana Police Service to officially launch AMBER Alert Ghana, a digital child rescue system across Facebook, Instagram, and now Messenger to help locate missing children.

The alert system rapidly spreads vital information such as a child’s photo, description, and suspected abduction location to people within targeted areas via their social feeds and notifications. With Messenger now added to the programme, Meta says the expanded reach boosts the chances of recovering abducted children quickly.

“Every minute counts,” said Kojo Boakye, Meta’s Vice President of Public Policy for Africa, the Middle East, and Türkiye. “By reaching people across all three platforms, we’re showing the power of technology to make a real difference.”

Ghana is the 36th country and the fifth in Africa after South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco—to adopt the AMBER Alert system, which Meta first launched in 2015 on Facebook and later extended to Instagram globally in 2022.

The system will be triggered when a missing child meets four criteria:

The child is under 18
There’s credible belief of abduction
The child is at risk of serious harm
There’s enough information to help locate them

Once activated, Meta’s 24/7 Global Security Operations Centre will push the alert to users in the designated search area.

Director-General of the CID, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, welcomed the move:
“This dramatically increases the odds of a safe recovery. It reflects our commitment to innovation and child protection.”

Detective Dunstan Guba, head of the AMBER Alert Ghana Team and host of Cybercrime Alert on GH POLICE TV, confirmed the Police Service’s readiness.
“We have a dedicated, around-the-clock team supported by our Missing Persons Unit to issue alerts and conduct swift investigations.”

Meta says the platform has contributed to hundreds of recoveries globally and with Ghana now on board, the company aims to deepen its impact across the continent.