A/HRC/14/42 dialogue and making confidential representations to the authorities or armed groups in order to clarify the fate of the missing person. 29. There are also other humanitarian organizations involved in activities linked to restoring family links. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration are regular partners of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Other agencies, such as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and nongovernmental organizations such as Save the Children Fund cooperate with the Red Cross and Red Crescent in specific cases, for example in assisting unaccompanied children. V. Mechanisms established to clarify the fate of missing persons 30. The efficient treatment of missing persons requires the establishment of competent mechanisms at various levels. It might be necessary to put into place mechanisms ensuring coordination and information-sharing process between the parties concerned. They are usually set up in the period following the end of the conflict and might be included in documents aiming at settling the situation, such as ceasefire and peace agreements. 31. When such mechanisms are set up, particular attention should be given to their mandate which should focus on their humanitarian objectives, i.e., tracing persons that are unaccountable for because of a situation of armed conflict and informing their families accordingly. They should be granted sufficient capacity and powers to be able to carry out their mandate effectively. For instance, the constitutive documents should ensure that such mechanisms have access to grave sites and human remains so as to proceed to exhumation and identification. Appropriate rules of procedure specifying the representatives’ necessary qualities and number, the quorum rule and the voting procedure should be drafted. Sufficient attention should be given to creating an environment that is conducive to information-sharing, including the possibility of working in a confidential manner. 32. States need to organize at national level the efficient treatment of missing persons. One way promoted by the ICRC Model Law on the Missing is to establish an independent and impartial State authority responsible for tracing missing persons and identification of human remains. Of course, it must be ensured that such an authority does not overlap with other structures already existing, such as the national information bureaux mentioned earlier. In such a case, the extension of the latter’s mandate should be explored. 33. An independent and impartial national institution could play a crucial role in clarifying the fate of missing persons. States should ensure the establishment and day-today functioning of such an institution (commission or committee for missing persons) through adequate structures such as working groups or other appropriate mechanisms. The commission for missing persons should have a clear humanitarian mandate established by law, focusing on tracing persons that are unaccountable for as a result of an armed conflict, and the necessary resources and powers. It should, inter alia: (a) receive tracing requests and, on the basis of submitted tracing requests, collect, check and provide the applicant and State authorities with available information and facts on disappearance, as well as information on the whereabouts and fate of a person in accordance with the national legislation and standards on the protection and management of personal data; (b) be responsible for the operation of a registry of data and adopt necessary regulations to this end; (c) take appropriate measures to ensure the right of persons deprived of freedom to inform their relatives of their condition, whereabouts and circumstances of their detention/ imprisonment; (d) take measures to ensure the enjoyment of rights by relatives of the missing person; and (e) execute any other tasks required for the performance of its duties. Said body should provide mechanisms such as telephone hotlines and web pages for relatives and witnesses to register missing persons and trace potential burial sites. 8 GE.10-12433