Strengthening the Role of Municipalities

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The STROM project was a transnational project that aimed to strengthen the capacity and role of municipalities in the chain of assistance to victims of human trafficking in the Baltic Sea region (BSR). In order to assess the current role and responsibilities of municipalities in the chain of assistance to victims of all forms of human trafficking and develop effective anti-trafficking policies at the local level, a baseline assessment was carried out in the BSR. Experts from the municipalities in the BSR meet at the regional group meeting to share and analyse the local mechanisms in place to deal with cases of human trafficking. The culmination of the project was specific guidelines for the municipalities providing local stakeholders with expert knowledge and tools needed to deal efficiently with human trafficking cases at the local level. The project contributed to the development of a wider follow-up project. The project STROM enhanced cooperation and coordination among the municipalities of the BSR states to prevent trafficking in human beings in all its forms and strengthen efforts to protect victims of human trafficking. It also facilitates development of a multi-disciplinary, coherent policy against trafficking in human beings (THB) which requires the involvement of a more diverse group of actors than before in policy-making. The STROM project was implemented in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation and Sweden. As the project partner countries represent both destination and source countries with diverse perceptions and actions towards the challenges that surround human trafficking, the project covered a large spectrum of the municipal responses to the problem of THB. This will ultimately allow for a project with local focus to give a broader picture of which the challenges and best practices awaits institutions when working towards the prevention of THB. The project aimed improving strategies used by the municipalities to fight human trafficking and provide assistance to victims of trafficking as well as to raise awareness of local stakeholders and to foster better cooperation between municipalities in the BSR. The flagship involves seven partners from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden.

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