In Sabah, children’s involvement in oil palm plantation work is widespread and traditionally perceived to be informal assistance to their parents, even though work on the oil palm plantations is highly risky and can be detrimental to children’s physical safety, development, health, and education. A number of underlying factors, together, contribute to children’s involvement in child labour. Key of this is the economic vulnerability of families, where low wages and the piece rate system of pay combine to incentivise families to engage children in work to achieve higher yields . Other significant drivers to child labour are also limited access to formal education, child protection services as well as the lack of childcare facilities.
Children of workers face numerous barriers to accessing alternative employment opportunities, including lack of documentation, discrimination, and isolation, as well as limited access to education. In this context, it is common for young persons aged 16 and above from the plantation community to be engaged as workers in the plantation. Without training and skill enhancement, there is a strong likelihood that the young workers will remain in the high-risk and low-paid sector, unable to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty.
The European Union-funded Promoting socio- economic inclusion through enhanced access to education and training opportunities for children on plantations in Sabah (SABAH) – implemented jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was launched in 2024. Drawing from the ILO’s extensive experience in technical cooperation initiatives on the promotion of decent work in the Malaysian economy, and in particular the plantation sector, the Sabah Project will contribute to the elimination of child labour through access to education and training opportunities by supporting the Malaysian Government’s efforts to implement the National Action Plan on Forced Labour (NAPFL) 2021 – 2025, and by enhancing the Sabah Government’s capacity to enforce the amended Sabah Labour Ordinance more effectively, among others.
The Finance and Administrative Assistant (FAA) will be based in the ILO Joint Projects Office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and work under the supervision of the National Project Coordinator for the Sabah Project.
Administrative and financial guidance will be provided by the Chief of the Regional Administration Services for the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. He/she is required to work in close collaboration with other ILO staff members.
Duties:
Maintain project financial records and monitoring systems to record and reconcile expenditures, balances, payments, statements and other data for daily transactions and reports.
Process contracts for financial clearance and payment. Ensure the correctness and appropriateness of types of contracts used with each activity, and ensure all necessary supporting documents are attached.
Prepare routine correspondence to verify data, answer queries and obtain additional information, follow-up as necessary with project and ILO staff, consultants and counterparts. Draw the attention of the National Project Coordinator and, where necessary, the Finance Unit at the Regional Office in Bangkok, to matters requiring immediate attention.
Prepare and process financial transactions in IRIS including contracts, travel requests, purchase orders and requisitions, external payment authorizations and others as may be necessary.
Arrange for the procurement, shipment and receipt of office and project supplies, equipment and materials and household effect, including customs clearance.
Classify and assign budget codes, verify and process claims for payment, and check payment vouchers, prices and claims invoices.
Provide administrative and financial backstopping and guidance for project staff and consultants, with respect to payments, entitlements, travel claims, and other requirements relating to accounts and finance.
Consult with the Finance Unit at the Regional Office in Bangkok on rules, regulations and procedures, and inform project staff, partners, consultants, interns of new or revised procedures and practices.
Prepare recurring reports as scheduled and special reports as required for donor reporting, for budget preparation, audits or other reasons.
Calculate and compile cost estimates, and participate in budget analysis and projections as required by the Project Director/National Project Coordinator.
Provide support, when necessary, in the preparation and running of project workshops and meetings in Malaysia.
Perform other duties as assigned by the National Project Coordinator and, where necessary, the Finance Unit at the Regional Office in Bangkok.
Required qualifications;
Education :
Completion of secondary school education, supplemented by commercial training in bookkeeping, accounting, business administration or equivalent experience.
Experience:
At least five years of project/management support (admin and finance) experience. Familiarity with ILO administrative procedures is preferred.
Languages :
Proficiency in English and Bahasa Malaysia with good drafting skills.
