Editorial: Every missing child matters

Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007.

British girl Madeleine McCann has been missing for seven years. I remember when she first went missing, I was in Tauranga hospital when my third child was born. I had just got a child, they had just lost one. I could not imagine any greater horror than losing a child.

Her parents marked the anniversary with a service in which candles were lit for all children around the world who have been taken away from their parents against their will. Most of us know Madeleine's name. Her story has been well publicised, and her parents have been fortunate to have the means to keep it in the public glare.

Many people could relate to the story, but many children go missing around the world and the public do not display such interest.

Finally, the world has woken up and realised that urgent action is required to rescue the 276 kidnapped Nigerian girls.

It is disgraceful that it has taken so long for something to be done to save the girls who were taken by the thuggish Boko Haram group on April 15.

It shows the indifferent and almost narcissistic nature of the Western world that an event like this could fly under the radar for nearly a month with barely a ripple of concern.

One can only imagine the outcry if 276 New Zealand children were abducted like that. Within hours the media would have been full of images of them and governments would have been mobilising to rescue them.

At least something is now being done to find the Nigerian girls. British, French and American security forces have arrived in Nigeria to assist in the rescue of the girls.

Let's hope they find them quickly. Just like it would be anywhere else in the world, there will be mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers and sisters desperate to see them.