Website Wonders: Advisor’s Portrait Replaced with Missing Child’s Photo!

Many visitors to the official website of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Social Welfare, were startled to find the usual advisor’s portrait replaced by the image of a child wearing glasses. Some speculated that the site had been hacked. However, fact-checking reveals this was no act of cyber intrusion — it was a deliberate initiative from within the ministry itself.

The child in the image is Alif, a 4-year-old boy who went missing from Ershadnagar in Tongi, Gazipur, on May 23, 2025. Despite efforts by law enforcement, Alif had not been found three days after his disappearance. In a show of urgency and compassion, Sharmin S. Murshid, Advisor to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, replaced her own photograph on the government portal with Alif’s, hoping to draw national attention to the missing child.

The caption beneath the image reads: "The missing child was last seen wearing a maroon shirt. His father, a salon owner, and his mother are searching for him desperately. Please share this information."

This action was taken to mark International Missing Children’s Day, observed annually on May 25. According to ministry sources, the photo replacement was implemented by the ministry’s relevant department on the evening of the 25th. The initiative is a pilot effort to prompt greater public engagement in locating missing children.

In fact, the ministry plans to propose a permanent feature across all government websites that would display photos and information of missing children relevant to each region. Advisor Sharmin S. Murshid is set to send a formal letter to a2i (Access to Information) on Tuesday, urging collaboration with the Ministry of ICT to expand this model nationwide.

Meanwhile, youth-led civic tech initiative Cyber Teens, spearheaded by International Children's Peace Prize winner Sadat Rahman, is working to introduce the globally recognized emergency alert system known as Amber Alert in Bangladesh. The group has already submitted a petition signed by 100,000 people to the Advisor. Should the government officially adopt the program, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) has expressed willingness to implement the system locally. Amber Alerts are currently operational in 20 countries worldwide.