The Government of Paraguay, in a partnership with technology company Meta, officially launched the MAFE Alert system. This advanced technological tool is designed to broadcast critical information about missing children and adolescents across popular social media platforms. By utilising Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, the initiative aims to drastically accelerate the process of locating vulnerable young people. The system, according to officials, represents a approach to public safety, integrating government infrastructure with the widespread reach of social networks to create a rapid-response network.
Inspired by a call for faster responses
Walter Gutiérrez, Paraguay’s Minister of Children and Adolescents, provided context for the system’s creation. He explained that the initiative was inspired by the case of María Fernanda Benítez Martínez, a 17-year-old adolescent from Coronel Oviedo. Her disappearance highlighted the urgent need for more agile and immediate tools to respond to such crises.
Gutiérrez detailed the operational flow of the new system. Once the National Police’s specialised Department for the Search and Localisation of Persons formally activates an alert, the information is immediately relayed to Meta. Subsequently, the system targets users within a 160-kilometre radius of the last place the child or adolescent was seen, sending a direct notification to their social media feeds. This geo-targeting ensures that the alert reaches the people most likely to have relevant information.
“This is an invaluable tool that will allow us to provide a rapid response in situations of missing persons,” Gutiérrez stated, emphasising the value of reducing the critical time between a disappearance and a public alert.
Leveraging technology for community safety
Emily Vacher, Meta’s Director of Trust and Safety, spoke on the importance of the collaboration between the technology sector and governmental bodies. She underscored how such partnerships can effectively support the search for missing children by combining official law enforcement efforts with the power of community engagement facilitated by technology. Vacher highlighted that the extensive reach of social networks can be harnessed to assist authorities in their vital work, turning millions of users into potential allies in a search.
She also made a direct appeal to the public, stressing their potential role in these efforts: “If you see an alert, it means that you also have the possibility to help these missing children,” Vacher expressed, framing the system as a tool that empowers ordinary citizens to contribute to the safety of their communities.
A national commitment to child protection
The President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, also addressed the launch, affirming that the implementation of the MAFE Alert system will serve to eliminate the bureaucratic delays that can often hamper search and rescue operations. He stressed the immediacy and efficiency of the new mechanism.
“The operation of this mechanism is immediate. The person who is within a 160-kilometre radius of the place where the child was last seen will receive a direct notification through the Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger platforms,” Peña indicated, highlighting the direct line of communication to the public.
He further noted that with this launch, Paraguay becomes the fourth country in South America to implement this specific technological tool. This adoption strengthens the nation’s existing mechanisms for the protection and search of missing children and adolescents. The president concluded with a statement on the government’s resolve.
“An entire country and an entire government are on alert to care for its children,” the president declared, underlining commitment to the protection and welfare of the nation’s youth.
A new framework for coordinated action
The development of the alert system is anchored in the MAFE Law, a piece of legislation promulgated in 2025 which establishes formal mechanisms for searching for and locating missing individuals. The collaboration includes the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Children and Adolescents (MINNA), and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MITIC).
Furthermore, the National Police is a crucial operational partner, working directly with Meta to ensure the system functions effectively and efficiently. This multi-agency approach ensures that once a child is reported missing, all relevant bodies can act in concert, minimising delays and maximising the chances of a safe recovery.
