A contribution from the Holy See this morning is the latest addition to funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).The Holy See has been a valued supporter of the activities of ICMP, which assists governments in addressing missing persons issues, since 2002.

ICMP is an international organization funded entirely by donor governments and foundations. This financial assistance enables the work of ICMP’s forensic anthropologists and archeologists at mass grave sites, of scientists in the ICMP laboratories extracting DNA profiles from bones and family members’ blood samples for identification of the missing, and of other ICMP programs that assist family members of missing persons and local governments.

“The importance of this support goes well beyond the material value of the donation itself and shows the missing persons’ family members that the international community still attaches significance to the issue of the missing in the region of the former Yugoslavia,” said Kathryne Bomberger, ICMP Chief of Staff.

ICMP activities are also supported by the Governments of the United States of America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Germany and Greece, and by the European Union.