FAR convenes migrant domestic workers in New York

Date: March 2026. On March 10th, 2026, the Feminist Alliance for Rights -along with the National Domestic Workers Alliance 0 New York chapter- organized a consultation in New York convened by the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls (WGDAWG). Laura Nyrinkindi, a WGDAWG expert member representing the African region, led the discussion.

The consultation is part of an ongoing process to support the WGDAWG’s development of a guidance note on the rights of migrant domestic workers, a document that will provide legally grounded guidance for governments and civil society organizations to strengthen protections for one of the most legally exposed groups of workers in the world. Migrant domestic workers, frequently fall outside national labor protections, experience violence and sexual harassment, face exploitative recruitment systems, and have limited access to consular services or legal recourse.

By bringing domestic workers themselves into direct dialogue with a UN independent expert at the drafting stage, FAR is ensuring that the guidance note reflects the lived realities of the women whose rights it is designed to protect – not only the perspectives of governments and institutions.

This consultation builds on FAR’s decade of engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, including formal contributions to the WGDAWG and the CEDAW Committee.

Looking ahead: FAR is planning a second consultation in Colombo, Sri Lanka in July 2026, bringing together migrant domestic workers and returnees from Arab states. The Colombo convening will generate inputs to inform the WGDAWG guidance note and advance FAR’s regional standards development work for South Asia.

For more information: info@feministrights.org