Lara Foundation, the grantee of the action on "Prevention and combating trafficking in human beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina” organised a Preparatory Workshop in Sarajevo for the exchange of experiences and good practices in order to prevent human trafficking in BiH, with a focus on labor exploitation, on 1 July 2020.

The workshop is part of the project "Trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation is happening - RECOGNISE AND PROTECT YOURSELF", which is supported by the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022"and is implemented by Lara Foundation in co-operation with the members of the RING Network.

The event was attended by 18 people, representatives of member organisations of the RING network (Women's Association "MOST" Visegrad, Women's Rights Center Zenica, Women's Association "Gorazdanke" Gorazde, Association of Roma Women "Better Future" Tuzla, Foundation "United Women" Banja Luka, Association "Women of BiH" Mostar, Association "Novi put" Mostar, Foundation "Lara" Bijeljina), officials of state institutions and public services that have in their mandate the preventing and combating of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labor exploitation (Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, State Agency for Investigations and Protection - SIPA, Ministry of Security of BiH - Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings), a representative of trade unions, relevant civil society organizations (Association "Land of Children in BiH" Tuzla), and a representative of the Council of Europe.

The lecturers were Stanislava Tanić, Head of the Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Mirsada Bajramović, President of the Association "Land of Children in BiH" and Milkica Milojević, journalist and activist.

Through introductory speeches, constructive discussion and active participation of all present, organisers tried to make a cross-section of the current situation in the field of prevention of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, to exchange experiences and information and see opportunities for further action, networking and co-operation. The conclusions of the workshop will be an excellent starting point for preparing a basic study on the situation in the field of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation and creating the content and plan of the media campaign, since the consultants selected for this part of the work also attended the event.

This workshop was the first in a series of activities with the common goal of contributing to the prevention and reduction of the risk of human trafficking in BiH with a focus on forced labour and other forms of labour exploitation.