Material of the International Conference “Implementing and going beyond the Palermo Protocol” (29-30 June 2020)
In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol), on June 29 and 30 2020, we have brought together Civil Society Organisations and Academia to promote an open and frank debate about the implementation of the Palermo protocol.
It was a great honour to take part and organize an international conference of this calibre, in cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Ms Maria Grazia Giammarinaro and the municipality of Palermo.
In these two days, we had the opportunity to discuss important and contemporary topics, such as the restrictive migration policies, adopted by the majority of governments worldwide, that made migrants even more vulnerable. We discussed to re-orient the implementation of the Palermo Protocol and national legislation in a way which is consistent with a human rights-based approach. We talked about what are the innovative pathways opened by good practices, especially those put in place by civil society organizations, by international Courts case law, and regional instruments such as the Council of Europe Convention on combatting trafficking. Is a new human rights global instrument needed?
It has been a unique formative experience, full of ideas, and starting points.
To allow anyone to view and review the international conference, on our youtube channel we have made available the registrations of the opening session of the international conference and the other four-session.
OPENING SESSION
Welcoming remarks by Mr. Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo
Welcoming remarks by Mr. Vincenzo Castelli, President of On the Road
Welcoming remarks by Mr. Vincenzo Militello, University of Palermo
Opening remarks by Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
SESSION 1
Taking trafficked and exploited persons’ rights seriously
Leonardo Sakamoto (Journalist and board of the UN Fund for Contemporary Forms of Slavery)
Jayne Huckerby (Duke University School of Law)
Evelyn Probst (LEFOE-GAATW)
Parosha Chandran (King’s College London)
Shawn MacDonald (Vérité)Summary of session 1 by Leonardo Sakamoto