MY Voice Project

23/01/2025

🎉 Congratulations to our MY Voice partner Proforest on their 25th anniversary! To mark this occasion, their team produced an impact story featuring MY Voice project director, Jia Yen Lai, highlighting their effort in the project.

With Proforest Southeast Asia’s extensive experience in the palm oil sector, they are supporting MY Voice to identify and respond to sectors’ and stakeholders' needs and priorities. Together, we’re driving meaningful change for people and communities.

Thanks to the Proforest team and Jia Yen Lai for sharing these great insights about the project!

As we mark 25 years of Proforest throughout 2025, we’re thrilled to launch our new Impact Stories series! These short videos showcase the incredible progress...

09/01/2025

08/01/2025

💡 🌴As part of the MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub, our team has been sharing knowledge and good practices on child labour prevention and remediation with the private sector. This past fall, we facilitated awareness sessions in Tawau, Sabah in collaboration with two palm oil companies, Wilmar International and Sawit Kinabalu.

Read more about these sessions here: https://myvoiceproject.org/sharing-knowledge-and-good-practices-on-child-labour-prevention-and-remediation-with-private-sector/

Learn more about the Action Hub here: https://myvoiceproject.org/key-outputs-activities/child-labour-remediation-hub/

Upholding child rights and child protection is only possible through commitment from all stakeholders. Interested in getting involved? Reach out to us at [email protected] for more information!

Since its launch in June 2024, the Child Rights Action Hub (Action Hub) has successfully facilitated awareness sessions on Child Labour Prevention and Remediation (CLPR) in Tawau, Sabah in collaboration with two palm oil companies, Wilmar International (24th September 2024) and Sawit Kinabalu (21st....

23/12/2024

⭐ As we wrap up 2024, the entire MY Voice team extends our appreciation for your continued support and partnership to reduce forced and child labour in the palm oil and garment industries in Malaysia.

As the third year of MY Voice’s implementation, 2024 brought significant growth in the project, as we trained 480 individuals from the private sector, worker groups, CSOs, labor unions, and government, built partnerships with 2 new private sector partners in the garment and palm oil industries, and launched the Child Rights Action Hub in the palm oil industry.

We look forward to continuing our work together in 2025!

20/12/2024

The latest MY Voice newsletter is out now! Check it out for more details about:

✔️ Our 2025 Training Programme
✔️ Training of Trainers on Child Labour Prevention and Remediation
✔️ Awareness Raising Training for National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW)
✔️ JTK Sabah Labour Inspector Training
✔️ Strengthening Grievance Mechanisms in the Palm Supply Chain Workshops
✔️ Presenting the Child Rights Action Hub at the 2024 UN RBHR Forum in Bangkok
✔️ Awareness Raising Training with CSOs and Unions on Forced Labour and Child Labour
✔️ Strengthening Social Compliance Systems and Worker-Manager Engagement

Read it here: https://conta.cc/3VLDXjv

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/VQnfJKM/myvoicesubscribe

Email from Social Accountability International (SAI) Child Rights Action Hub, Recent activities, and how to get involved MY Voice Project Newsletter   End of Year Update As we wrap up 2024, the entire

16/12/2024

16/12/2024

Last month, the MY Voice team from Proforest participated in RT2024, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

The event brought stakeholders from across the supply chain together to develop and implement global standards for producing and sourcing certified sustainable palm oil. The MY Voice team spoke with RT2024 participants on methods to increase worker voice through social compliance systems and improve access to remedy for forced labour and child labour in Malaysia.

In supporting the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) continued drive for transformative and systemic change of the oil palm sector, Proforest particip...

13/12/2024

📲 🙌 Check out North South Initiative and Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor promoting the Just Good Work app using skills learned from our recent training session on awareness raising!

The North South Initiative is a Malaysian-based non-profit organisation that seeks to empower migrant workers and others through a rights-based approach to address rights violations. For more information, visit their website: https://nsinitiative.net/

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor (Friends of Women Organisation) is a Malaysian organisation dedicated to supporting fair labour rights, equal opportunities, and social support for women workers, particularly domestic workers, migrant women workers, and unionised electronic workers. Learn more at their website: https://persatuansahabatwanita.org/

Our Journey

04/12/2024

📲 The Just Good Work is a mobile app that helps to engage with workers, inform them about their rights, and provides access to help. It is completely free and anonymous to use! You can download the app from Google Play or Apple store by searching for ‘Just Good Work’.

Check out this video made by Etania Schools from a recent MY Voice training session about awareness raising! Etania provides education for marginalised, undocumented, and stateless children in Sabah, Malaysia. Visit their website to learn more: https://etaniaschools.org/

Our Journey

27/11/2024

💡 💬 Local CSOs and unions recently gathered for a MY Voice training, where they learned about raising awareness of forced labour and child labour in the palm oil and garment industries. As part of the training, participants applied what they learned by creating promotional materials to introduce the Just Good Work app to their audiences. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing a few of the finished products!

First up is Humana Child Aid Society Sabah, which promotes and operates learning centres for children, particularly those living in plantations and remote areas without school access in Sabah.

Our Journey

19/11/2024

Check out our Just Good Work mobile app! 📲

➡️ What is it?

The Just Good Work app is a free and anonymous mobile app that engages with migrant workers in Malaysia and informs them about their rights.

️➡️ Who should use it?

Migrant workers in Malaysia

➡️ What does the app include?

-Useful information for your migration journey – from the start of recruitment to returning home (local culture, banking, Malaysian labour laws, how to raise complaints at workplace, and more)

-Grievance reporting via in-app button and hotline

-Place to save copies or photos of important documents (employment contracts, pay slips, and more)

-Multilingual messaging, feedback, and surveys

➡️ Find more information: https://myvoiceproject.org/key-outputs-activities/just-good-work-app/

Our Journey

13/11/2024

The MY Voice team is at the RSPO Roundtable (RT2024) at Amari Bangkok, Thailand! Come and say hi at the Proforest booth or to chat about workers’ rights.

12/11/2024

In September, MY Voice co-organized a panel session at the 2024 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in Bangkok, in which panelists discussed ideas and challenges for creating effective tools and approaches to remedy child labour.

During the panel, our partner The Centre for Child Rights and Business shared experiences of establishing the MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub in Sabah’s palm oil sector, emphasizing the importance of engaging local stakeholders in its design and implementation. This includes teachers, workers in remote areas, community members, and business partners. We’re excited to continue working with these stakeholders through the MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub to come together to address child labour risks in palm oil supply chains.

🟢 Read more about the UN Forum session: https://myvoiceproject.org/presenting-the-child-rights-action-hub-at-the-2024-un-rbhr-forum-in-bangkok/

🟢 Read more about the Action Hub: https://myvoiceproject.org/key-outputs-activities/child-labour-remediation-hub/

MY Voice participated in the panel session, Innovative Tools and Approaches for Businesses and Civil Society to Effectively Remedy Child Labour and Sexual Exploitation, at the 2024 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in Bangkok this September.   Organising partners of the panel session:...

08/11/2024

Earlier this year, we launched an exciting new program: the MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub! The Action Hub is...

✅ A community-based, long-term child labour prevention and remediation system

✅ A way for companies to work together to address child labour risks in their palm oil supply chain, including in the most remote areas

✅ Supported by a network of local service providers and case managers

✅ Guided by children’s best interests

Read more about the Action Hub: https://myvoiceproject.org/the-my-voice-child-rights-action-hub-officially-launches-in-malaysia/

And a conversation with MY Voice project director, Jia Yen Lai about the Hub launch: https://myvoiceproject.org/my-voice-child-rights-action-hub-qa-with-jia-yen-lai/

05/11/2024

💡 MY Voice : Child Labour 💡

Did you know...

-The International Labour Organisations (ILO) defines child labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and is harmful to physical and mental development.”

- In Malaysia, the minimum age to work full-time is 15 years. 13 years is the minimum age for light work.

- Child labour can be found everywhere in the world, despite most countries establishing minimum working ages and other restrictions.

This doesn’t mean that children and young people can’t help support their families’ livelihoods. Learn more about child labour laws in Malaysia and our work: https://myvoiceproject.org/about-child-labour/

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), not all work done by children is classified as child labour. Child labour is defined as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and is harmful to physical and mental development.” Work can be po...

29/10/2024

💡 MY Voice Learning Centre: What is a Social Compliance System? 💡

One way that MY Voice promotes good labor practices is by working with palm oil and garment companies to implement and strengthen their Social Compliance Systems. The MY Voice Social Compliance System (SCS) embeds respect for workers’ rights in a company’s daily business operations. It manages risks in the following areas:

-Child Labour

-Forced Labour

-Health and Safety

-Freedom of Association

-Discrimination

-Disciplinary Practices

-Working Hours

-Wages and Benefits

-Regular Employment

-Worker Voice

Read more about the SCS: https://myvoiceproject.org/what-is-a-social-compliance-system/