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Ammon News - The Jordan Red Crescent Society (JRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) opened a three-day regional meeting on Restoring Family Links (RFL) in Amman on Monday.

The meeting, which brought together 13 representatives from national red cross and red crescent societies and 11 ICRC delegations from the Middle East and North Africa, seeks to share experiences and practices implemented in the region to strengthen RFL preparedness and response.

The annual event is held to discuss and develop an RFL strategy for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (2019-2025), the current challenges facing missing persons and their families, the assessment of RFL needs and capacities, response to the needs of migrants and their families, as well as the protection of data of the individuals using RFL services.

"The protection of family links will always be an essential part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements' framework, and we will boost cooperation with partners to continue the humanitarian mission of protecting the data of RFL services users," said the Head of ICRC's delegation in Jordan, Sarah Avrillaud.

Head of ICRC's Central Tracing Agency Florence Anselmo said the Movement facilitated 2 million phone calls for separated families in 2021, "which means four families were aided every minute, a missing person was found every hour, and 11 families are reunited every day across the world."

"Refugees need to know the whereabouts of their loved ones more than their need for food and shelter," said JRCS President Mohammad Al-Hadid, noting that the Movement can maintain family links by registering refugees in a bid to reduce the numbers of people missing due to armed conflicts and other forms of violence.