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. From 2021 to 2025, the MY Voice project sought 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 supported and furthered government efforts to reduce forced and child labor by strengthening local systems that can help workers and businesses thrive together. This included 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
MY Voice Resources
Downloadable Resources
Guidelines for Forced Labor Remediation (English)
Guidelines for Child Labor Remediation (English)
Community Facilitator Training Manual and Primer (English and Malay)
Printable Learning Materials
The following printable learning materials are available in English, Malay, Filipino, Bengali, Khmer, Nepali, and Burmese:
Social Compliance System Poster
Handout Card
Assessing Risks & Impacts Poster
Corrective Actions Planning Poster
Developing Code, Policy, Commitments Poster
Grievance Mechanisms Poster (English and Malay only)
MY Voice Initiatives
Child Rights Action Hub
The Child Rights Action Hub, originally a MY Voice initiative, addresses child labor at scale, with a focus on child labor risks in Malaysia’s palm oil sector. The Action Hub, the first of its kind in Malaysia, facilitates collaborative action, enabling private sector actors (retailers, brands, and suppliers) and solution providers in the community to participate in joint activities and address child labor risks in their supply chains.
Our partners at The Centre for Child Rights and Business are continuing implementation of the Action Hub. Read more here.
Photo courtesy of The Centre for Child Rights and Business
Just Good Work App
Just Good Work is a free mobile app that helps to engage with and inform workers about their rights, and an important tool for businesses to implement responsible recruitment and labor practices. The Just Good Work platform was built and maintained by a social enterprise called Fifty Eight. The app can be found on Google Play or the Apple store by searching for ‘Just Good Work’.
Just Good Work seeks to:
- Strengthen responsible recruitment practices
- Inform workers of their rights
- Provide a trusted and confidential grievance channel to workers
- Empower workers with information to make better decisions
Questions? Download the Just Good Work FAQs in English and Bahasa Malaysia.
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.
