La Strada

Volunteer Opportunities: Yes

History

La Strada (LSI) was launched in 1995 as a result of a trilateral anti-trafficking project. By 2001, it had grown into a network of nine members, all based in Europe. The trilateral project began in 1994 on the initiative of three NGOs from the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic. They organized a joint training seminar to exchange information, knowledge and experience and to develop prevention activities and support services for women who had been trafficked and returned home, either because they wanted to go back or because they were deported from Western Europe. This seminar led to the first La Strada project, 'Prevention of the Trafficking of Women in Central and Eastern Europe', which started in September 1995 and was financed under the PHARE Programme of the European Commission. In 1997 and 1998, new partners from Ukraine and Bulgaria joined the program, followed in 2001 by Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Macedonia. In 2012, the General Assembly of La Strada International decided to stop the membership of La Strada Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After having functioned for nine years as a joint program and network coordinated by the former Dutch Foundation against Trafficking in Women - now the Coordination Center Human Trafficking - La Strada was officially established in October 2004 as an independent international association with a secretariat based in Amsterdam.

Mission

LSI empowers people, promotes human rights and encourages individuals to exercise their rights in Central and Eastern Europe. The International Secretariat develops the capacity of the member organizations and other stakeholders to provide better services to trafficked persons and at-risk groups.