Project to Combat Forced Labor and Child Labor in the Production of Goods in Malaysia
Photo courtesy of Proforest
About the Project
Malaysia is the world’s second largest palm oil producer, and its garment industry – while much smaller – makes up 2% of global apparel exports. MY Voice seeks to combat forced and child labor in these sectors by increasing worker voice in social compliance systems and helping to improve communication and coordination between local actors to better identify, remediate, and prevent cases of forced and child labor.
Strengthening worker voice improves company labor performance and relationships between employer and workers. When workers feel comfortable expressing concerns, it boosts morale, increases productivity, and reduces risk through the identification of workplace issues and improving employee understanding and adherence to processes.
MY Voice also supports and furthers government efforts to reduce forced and child labor by strengthening local systems that can help workers and businesses thrive together. This includes private sector social compliance systems in line with international labor standards, independent forced labor and child labor remediation systems, and multi-stakeholder platforms that help ensure broad alignment on core labor principles and practices.
Project Objectives
Advocacy
Increase ability of workers and civil society to advocate and work with businesses to address child labor and forced labor
Worker Voice
Increase worker voice in the implementation of a social compliance system
Remediation
Increase access to remedies for workers exploited for forced labor and/or child labor by improving systems in the private sector
Our Partners
The Centre for Child Rights and Business (The Centre) works with companies to promote and respect children’s rights in all their operations, with a particular focus on supply chains. The Centre helps businesses understand how and where they impact children, and deliver practical solutions and services for mitigating risks and creating positive change.
Our Journey is a registered civil society organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia providing legal representation for migrants in labor, immigration and criminal cases. Our Journey’s vision is to inspire a supportive migration system, void of discrimination, for non-citizens and their families to build new lives and to be recognized for their contribution to development.
Proforest is a mission-driven, non-profit group that supports companies, governments, civil society and other organizations to work towards the responsible production and sourcing of agricultural and forest commodities. Proforest has 20 years of experience implementing responsible sourcing program, focusing on policy development, risk analysis across complex supply bases, supply chain mapping, site-level assessments, and ongoing supplier engagement to build policy compliance.
Funding for MY Voice is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL-37321-21-75-K. 100% of the total costs of the project is financed with USG federal funds, for a total of $5,000,000 dollars. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.
