History

The first La Strada project was launched in 1995 as a result of a trilateral anti-trafficking initiative of three NGOs from the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic. In 1994 they organised 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 first project was financed under the PHARE Programme of the European Commission. In 1997 and 1998, new partners from Ukraine and Bulgaria joined the programme, followed in 2001 by Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Macedonia. In 2004 La Strada International was officially established in October 2004 – founded by the 9 members – as an independent international association with a secretariat based in Amsterdam. In 2005 the La Strada Platform was launched to ensure exchange with other anti-trafficking NGOs in Europe.

In 2019 the La Strada network and Platform were merged into the current LSI NGO Platform. The main  purpose of this new extended Platform is to strengthen cooperation between civil society organisations, to raise awareness of human trafficking in Europe, to promote anti-trafficking initiatives and the work of NGOs and to engage in joint advocacy and policy work.  The LSI Platform  has currently 26 Members and 4 Associate members in 23 European countries.