The panel was moderated by Michelle Leighton, Chief of the Labour Migration Branch at the ILO. Marco Ferri, from the EU Delegation to the UN, provided the opening to the side event. The following speakers were present at the panel: Pablo Ceriani, member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers, Marilina Armellin, First Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN, Barbro Budin, Project and Gender Equality Coordinator, from the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) and Robert J. Vitillo, Head of Caritas Internationalis Delegation to the UN in Geneva. Jyoti Sanghera, Human Rights and Economic and Social Issues Section Chief at the OHCHR, delivered the closing remarks.
A special attention was dedicated to a discussion of the key international instruments for the protection of human rights of migrants, including ILO Convention 189 and the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW), as well as ILO Conventions 97 and 143. The participants agreed on the importance on raising awareness about migrant domestic workers from an interdisciplinary perspective, including different approaches of women's rights, workers' rights and human rights. On this regard, participants raised concerns about gender equality, labour protection, discrimination, xenophobia, vulnerability and isolation of migrant domestic workers.
The interactive format of the event allowed a lively discussion between the panellists and the public. Through the dialogue the attendees had the possibility to share further experiences and identify good practices on empowering migrants for improved protection of rights and social development outcomes. The event proved to be a good platform for moving the agenda on decent work forward and to further dialogue on the protection of the human rights of migrant domestic workers.