Mexico has promised to create a special unit to investigate missing persons after families of those missing staged a hunger strike for nine days. According to Agencia EFE, Mexico’s Government Secretariat and the federal Attorney General’s office will create the joint unit to investigate the nation’s large number of missing persons. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam made the announcement, on Friday, May 17th, after meeting with a group of mothers who have missing children. Families had been living in tents outside of his office in Mexico City during their protests.

In February of 2013, the Mexican government confirmed more than 26,000 people had gone missing or had forcibly disappeared since 2006.