Target 6.0 Human Rights – Advancing Dignity, Equality and Freedom for Women and Girls.
Read the announcement in our blog here.
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Target Project 6: Power Her Path: Empowering Trafficking Survivors & Vulnerable Migrants to Thrive Organization: Pacific Links Foundation Location: Vietnam, particularly focusing on Northern provinces bordering China |
The Project
Power Her Path supports women and girls in Vietnam who have survived human trafficking, forced labor, or forced marriage – and those at risk of exploitation. Using a trauma-informed, survivor-centered model, the project delivers immediate safety and wellbeing support, builds long-term economic self-reliance, and strengthens the systems that connect survivors to services.
Background
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Co-founded in 2001 by Diep Vuong, a Vietnamese-American activist whose personal history is inseparable from her work. In 1980, she fled Vietnam as a refugee, escaping by boat with her family. She grew up in the United States in difficult circumstances, working multiple jobs, and went on to earn degrees from Harvard and San Jose State University. She returned to Vietnam in 2001, co-founding Pacific Links Foundation in the communities she had come from, determined to break the cycles of poverty and exploitation that had shaped her own early life. In 2018, she was named Global Citizen of the Year for her uncompromising advocacy against human trafficking. |
Project Objectives & Activities
The project is structured around three objectives, delivered on a rolling basis over 24 months to meet each survivor’s individual needs and timeline.
Objective 1: Provide Immediate Safety and Well-being Support
When a survivor first arrives, they often have nothing – no safe place to sleep, no documents, no sense of security. The first priority is stabilization:
- RISE care packages of daily essentials (clothing, sanitary products, personal care items)
- Emergency housing and transport home
- Immediate health, dental and psychosocial care
- Legal assistance for identification documents
- A dedicated case manager providing ongoing emotional support and guidance
Objective 2: Build Economic Self-Reliance
As survivors stabilize, they build independence and long-term economic security:
- Vocational training, internship and job placement
- Digital learning via Rise.GLOW platform and PAXU safe migration app
- Housing support (up to 3 months) and matched savings programs
- NEW (fully FAWCO-funded): Entrepreneurship pathway – business training, mentorship and seed funding to launch small businesses. For women in rural communities, entrepreneurship is often the most sustainable path to independence. This is the most-requested expansion Pacific Links Foundation has ever developed.
Objective 3: Promote Inclusivity and Sustainable Reintegration Pathways
FAWCO’s investment also funds system-strengthening innovations that expand access and create lasting change:
- 24/7 Survivor Support Line (fully FAWCO-funded) – a lifeline for survivors and loved ones at any hour, staffed throughout the 24-month project period
- Stakeholder training (fully FAWCO-funded) – equipping border guards, police, community leaders and local government officials to identify trafficking survivors and refer them to services
- Transition to a fully community-based reintegration model (FAWCO-funded innovation) – shifting from shelter-based care to community housing at survivors’ request, enabling recovery in familiar environments closer to home
- Rise.Hub Drop-In Center (fully FAWCO-funded innovation) – a new permanent community space for private consultations, counseling, skills training, and legal assistance
Expected Impact
Based on the Pacific Links Foundation experience, the Power Her Path project aims to achieve the following:
- 90% of supported individuals experience improved physical health, emotional stability and social connection
- 80% demonstrate greater knowledge of safe migration and online safety
- 70% achieve stable employment or sustainable income-generating activities
- 20% increase in referrals from trained stakeholders, expanding access to services
Over 95% of trafficking survivors supported by Pacific Links Foundation are women and girls; 90% are from ethnic minority communities. Every milestone – every safe return, every new job, every small business launched – represents a life rebuilt with dignity.
FAWCO’s Distinct Contribution
FAWCO’s funding is uniquely identifiable within this project. Several elements exist only because of FAWCO’s support, and will be tracked and reported separately so that FAWCO members and clubs can see the impact of their fundraising:
- Entrepreneurship Pathway – business training, mentorship and seed funding
- Rise.Hub Drop-In Center – a permanent community space for survivor services
- Transition to a fully community-based housing and reintegration model
- 24/7 Survivor Support Line
- Stakeholder capacity-building training across restructured Vietnamese provinces
SDGs addressed
About Pacific Links Foundation
Pacific Links Foundation is a women-led, locally rooted NGO committed to combating human trafficking and advancing gender equality for vulnerable women, girls and communities across Vietnam. Founded 25 years ago by Vietnamese American refugees, their mission is to support the sustainable development of Vietnamese communities and the enrichment of their cultural heritage.
The overarching objective is to enhance the well-being, resilience and economic empowerment of vulnerable, underserved Vietnamese women, girls and communities. They use innovative, evidence-based, technology-forward approaches that are locally grounded and designed to address entrenched barriers such as poverty, gender inequality, and risks of human trafficking and forced labor. Pacific Links Foundation believes that access to education, reliable information and safe job opportunities is key to breaking cycles of poverty and exploitation.
Their work spans two integrated portfolios:
- Education for Empowerment, including academic scholarships, online learning platforms and skills development
- Modern Slavery Prevention and Reintegration, including mobile app for safe migration, supply chain training, reintegration services, community outreach, and capacity building for stakeholders
Their programming is informed by years of field experience. Since 2006, Pacific Links Foundation has directly supported 1,800+ Vietnamese trafficking survivors. They provide reintegration services tailored to survivors’ needs, while also advocating for justice and systemic change. In partnership with Hogan Lovells, they achieved landmark legal victories in Belgium, France and the UK, securing compensation for victims of trafficking in the tragic 2019 Essex 39 lorry case, which brought global attention to the exploitation of Vietnamese migrants. Their 2019 “Precarious Journey” report funded by the UK Home Office, mapped the vulnerabilities of trafficking victims from Vietnam to Europe.
Since 2001, Pacific Links Foundation has directly impacted 450,000+ individuals. By leveraging technology, cross-sector partnerships and initiatives co-designed with beneficiaries, they create sustainable, inclusive pathways to safety, economic opportunity, and community transformation. Their work ensures that women and girls have the tools, support and freedom to build lives of dignity, independence, free from exploitation.
For additional information, you are invited to learn more about the organization:
Pacific Links Foundation: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
Activist Diep Vuong Named Global Citizen of the Year for Work to Fight Human Trafficking - Saigoneer
Human trafficking - dreams and realities: Diep Vuong at TEDxSanJoseCA 2012