13 agosto 2024
Introducing The MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub
The MY Voice project launched the Child Rights Action Hub in June as part of on-going efforts of strengthening systems to help prevent child labour in the palm oil and garment industries.
The Action Hub, the first of its kind in Malaysia, is building a community-based, long-term child labour prevention and remediation system guided by children’s best interests. It facilitates collaborative action, enabling brands, retailers, and local plantations to participate in joint activities and address child labour risks in their palm oil supply chain, including in the most remote areas. It will be supported by a network of local remediation service providers and case managers.
Using a child-centric approach, The Action Hub will provide guidelines to standardise remediation processes at different levels namely:
- Individual – Removing a child from child labour by providing safer options or offering non-hazardous work if they are above the minimum working age.
- Employer –Developing corrective action plans to prevent further child labour risks, such as through policy development, system changes, and capacity building.
- Community - Tackling the root causes of child labour, such as access to education.
Building up MY Voice’s multistakeholder approach to address these issues in both the palm oil and garment sectors in Malaysia, the Action Hub takes into consideration the much-needed private sector involvement and community engagement to ensure long-term support and solutions for children and their families.
Trainings can be conducted for teachers, community members, and other civil society stakeholders to become case managers, service providers, and child rights advocates. These actors will support children, their families, and companies in remediation processes.
The Action Hub will not only provide immediate support to children and families in child labour situations but also improves awareness and capacity among upstream actors, contributing to the reduction and prevention of child labour and its risks in the palm oil supply chain.
The MY Voice project seeks to increase worker voice in social compliance systems, increase access to remedy for forced labour and child labour, and help improve communication and coordination between local actors to better identify, remediate, and prevent cases of forced and child labour. The project is led by Social Accountability International and partners such as Proforest, The Centre for Child Rights and Business and Our Journey.
To learn more about the MY Voice Child Rights Action Hub, click here.
Funding 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.