Welcome to IFFAMPAC!

IFFAMPAC is an international humanitarian non-governmental organization working with family associations of missing persons from armed conflicts worldwide. IFFAMPAC focuses on the surviving families of armed conflict who face tremendous social, economic, legal, and cultural challenges when a primary economic provider of the family vanishes and cannot be accounted for as a result of conflict.

IFFAMPAC’s primary goal as a service organization is to assist surviving families in their efforts to remain together. IFFAMPAC also acts as an advocate for family associations by requesting any information available regarding the status of missing family members. IFFAMPAC forges links to all national family associations of missing persons in other regions and countries as well as with international experts, non-governmental organizations and agencies. IFFAMPAC works with family associations to make sure that collected data is clarified, accurately documented, and disseminated as public information.

This website exists to connect family associations and educate the public. The plight of the missing is a perennial consequence of war, yet it is one in which further needless anguish and suffering can be prevented or, at least, minimized.

Please read through the pages on this site to get to know our mission and how we can help you. If you are not a family member of someone who is missing, please follow your heart if you are moved to join us in this effort to help families bring the missing home or gain peace of mind by knowing their fate. IFFAMPAC welcomes the involvement of organizations, corporations, and interested individuals concerning the issues of the missing and their families.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are "The Missing" from armed conflicts?

During armed conflicts, large numbers of people remain unaccounted for. Some of these individuals are the victims of enforced disappearances by state actors; some are the victims of enemy cross-fire; others are the victims of genocidal acts committed by non-state actors; and some are minor children separated from their parents as they fled the violence of armed conflict.

Why are family associations important?

• Family associations can advocate more effectively for reform and protection of the rights of all families rather than individual families.
• Family associations promote self-help and social reconstruction with their focus on the family as a unit of resilience and strength.
• Family associations help to reeducate and retrain their members to pursue better economic, educational and political opportunities.
• Family associations allow surviving family members to contribute in a meaningful way to their communities.

What does IFFAMPAC do for family associations?

IFFAMPAC's primary goal is to assist surviving families in their efforts to keep families together, and to request information available regarding the status of missing family members.

IFFAMPAC assists families in a region with the formation of family associations. Working in partnership with the family associations, IFFAMPAC seeks:

• Answers to the fate or location of missing persons from responsible officials.
• Justice for the families of missing persons.
• Opportunities for communication between regional family associations.
• Long-term emotional healing for families.
• Funding for projects that bring social, economic, legal, or cultural benefits to family associations.

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For IFFAMPAC to be effective in helping families of missing persons, we urge individuals and families to join or form a family association. We then advise that the family association affiliate with IFFAMPAC. There are no fees or dues for family associations or humanitarian organizations to affiliate with IFFAMPAC. We also encourage humanitarian organizations to register with IFFAMPAC so that we can make your services known to family associations.

IFFAMPAC is working with qualified experts and non-governmental organizations worldwide to develop a new model international law and to best practices guidelines to address the variety of issues confronting the families of the missing post conflict. The information IFFAMPAC gathered from family associations will help to direct and support this process. For more information contact IFFAMPAC.