North South Initiative

Humanitarian and Migrant Worker Advocacy Servicesnsinitiative.net

Company typePrivate
Founded2011
HeadquartersPetaling Jaya, Malaysia
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingServices

North South Initiative firmographics

Firmographics

Name: North South Initiative
Legal name: North South Initiative
Website: https://nsinitiative.net
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2011
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

North South Initiative industry classification

Industry

Product category: Humanitarian and Migrant Worker Advocacy Services
NAICS: Human Rights Organizations (813311), Individual and Family Services (6241), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
SIC: Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
akta.pro primary industry: Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)
akta.pro secondary industries: Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI), Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE), Refugee, Migration & Displacement Support (BPAGABAH)

Keywords

Migrant worker advocacy
Forced labour consultancy
Refugee support services
Community health testing
Gig worker rights

Where North South Initiative is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Petaling Jaya
HQ country: Malaysia
HQ region: Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

North South Initiative business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

North South Initiative product offering

Product offering

Core offering

North South Initiative is a Malaysian non-governmental organization that delivers direct support and advocacy services to migrant workers and refugees, including multilingual casework, emergency shelter, free community-based HIV/STI screening, forced labour supply chain auditing, strategic litigation referrals, and research/policy advocacy. The organization also runs the Gabungan E-hailing Malaysia (GEM) movement for gig worker rights and the SafeStep mobile app for Bangladeshis seeking safe overseas employment.

Product overview

North South Initiative is a Malaysian social justice NGO offering a suite of services for migrants and refugees, not a unified software product. Core offerings include the SafeStep mobile app for Bangladeshi workers seeking overseas employment, migrant casework and helpline services in 6 languages, emergency shelter (Solidarity House), free HIV/STI community-based testing, forced labour consultancy and auditing, strategic litigation support, and the Gabungan E-hailing Malaysia (GEM) advocacy movement for gig workers. The organization also conducts research and publishes reports to advocate for policy changes affecting migrant communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

SafeStep App

Quantifiable outcome

RM760k award upheld for 93 migrant workers in back pay case

Companies that use North South Initiative

Customer profile

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

North South Initiative technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

North South Initiative partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2022NSI partners with CIJ on the GE15 Social Media Monitoring project and 'Say No to Hate Speech' portal. NSI contributes narratives and content to counter hate speech targeting migrants and refugees.
Migrant Workers Right to Redress Coalition (R2R)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2022NSI is a member of the Migrant Workers Right to Redress Coalition, which lobbies for comprehensive policy on labour migration in Malaysia. Coalition addresses issues including detention center conditions, forced labour, and migrant rights violations.
CIVICUS & Solidarity CentremajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Research partnership on civic space of migrants and refugees in Malaysia. Joint report 'Freedoms on the move' examining challenges faced by migrant workers in exercising fundamental freedoms.
ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI is the local NGO contributing to AFML, a critical platform for addressing challenges and promoting welfare of migrant workers within the ASEAN region.
Management and Science University (MSU)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI organizes the annual Migrant Workers Health Congress with MSU, addressing migrant health issues and research.
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI contributed to IOM's 'Assessment of Causes and Contributing Factors to Migrant Workers Becoming Undocumented in Malaysia' report (2023).
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI Director Adrian Pereira co-authored 'Can Malaysia End Forced Labour By 2030?' published by ISEAS (2023).
Bournemouth UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research on 'Investigating Sudden Cardiac Death of Nepali Labour Migrants in Malaysia' with support from Bournemouth University's Global Challenges Research Fund (2021-Ongoing).
Gabungan E-Hailing Malaysia (GEM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI provides solidarity support to GEM, an e-hailing and p-hailing umbrella movement. GEM comprises 20 member organizations and advocates for driver rights. NSI co-published 'Breaking the Norms: Aspirations of Gabungan E-Hailing Malaysia' book.
SERANTAU, PNCC, AMMPOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI partnered with these migrant movements for CIVICUS research on civic space of migrants in Malaysia.
CARAM AsiamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI collaborated with CARAM Asia to compile 'Post Arrival Manual for Domestic Workers coming to Malaysia' and 'Post Arrival Facilitator's Manual' (2022).
Geutanyoe FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI partnered with Geutanyoe Foundation on research regarding civic freedoms of migrants and refugees, led by Lilianne Fan as International Director and Co-Founder.
Ke Arah 189 CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI supports Ke Arah 189 Coalition's advocacy for removal of discriminatory provisions against domestic employees in Employment Act amendments.
Mekong Migration NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI contributed to research on women migrant workers in Malaysia and Thailand's agro-processing sectors (2024).
Labour Solidarity and Learning Resources Association (LLRC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSI collaborated with LLRC on submissions and advocacy for workers' freedom of association.
PPIM (Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGEM, under NSI's auspices, was officiated under PPIM. PPIM (Islamic Consumers Association of Malaysia) provides institutional support for the e-hailing advocacy movement.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

North South Initiative competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Mekong Migration Network: Regional research and advocacy network on migration in the Mekong sub-region. NSI has co-authored research with this network on women migrant workers in agro-processing, and they share overlapping focus on intra-ASEAN labour migration.
Refuge for the Refugees: Malaysia-based refugee advocacy and assistance organization serving similar refugee communities (including Rohingya). Directly comparable as a domestic NGO delivering services and advocacy on behalf of refugees in Malaysia.
Migrant Care: Indonesian NGO advocating for Indonesian migrant workers domestically and abroad, including in Malaysia. Directly comparable mission and beneficiary population (Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia) but operates primarily from the sending-country side of the corridor.
Tenaganita: Malaysian NGO advocating for migrant workers, refugees, women and children against exploitation. Closest direct peer to NSI given shared geography, beneficiary population (Indonesian and other migrant workers), and overlapping service portfolio including casework, shelter, and policy advocacy.
CARAM Asia: Regional coordination network for migrant worker rights across Asia, of which NSI is already an active partner. CARAM Asia co-publishes research with NSI and provides a supra-national platform for shared advocacy, making it directly comparable on mission and constituency.
Geutanyoe Foundation: Malaysia-based Rohingya refugee rights organization partnering with NSI on civic space research. Directly comparable as a domestic Malaysian NGO focused on a refugee community, with overlapping advocacy and research mandates.

Regional players

Raks Thai Foundation: Thai NGO addressing labour migration, forced labour and migrant worker rights in Thailand. Comparable as a regional peer with overlapping mandate on ASEAN migrant labour and forced labour audits, but operating from a different destination country.

Broad incumbents

International Organisation for Migration (IOM): United Nations migration agency that NSI has partnered with on the 2023 'Causes of Migrant Workers Becoming Undocumented' report. Operates globally with a vastly larger mandate and budget; relevant as an institutional comparator and potential funding/partner counterpart.
UNHCR Malaysia: UN Refugee Agency's Malaysia operation, focused on refugee status determination and protection in the same geography as NSI. Relevant as a broad incumbent whose mandate partially overlaps with NSI's refugee service and advocacy work.
Amnesty International Malaysia: Malaysian chapter of a global human rights organization with broader civic, political, and migrant rights advocacy. Comparable as a domestic advocacy peer addressing hate speech and migrant rights issues (e.g., joint work with NSI on the GE15 monitoring project).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

North South Initiative financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

North South Initiative leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

North South Initiative funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

North South Initiative M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North South Initiative

What does North South Initiative do?

Is North South Initiative a public or private company?

North South Initiative is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was North South Initiative founded?

North South Initiative was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is North South Initiative based?

North South Initiative is headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, in the Asia region.

Who are North South Initiative's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Mekong Migration Network, Refuge for the Refugees, Migrant Care, Tenaganita, CARAM Asia and Geutanyoe Foundation. Raks Thai Foundation is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are International Organisation for Migration (IOM), UNHCR Malaysia and Amnesty International Malaysia.

Does North South Initiative have an API?

No public API is recorded for North South Initiative.

What industry is North South Initiative in?

North South Initiative's product category is Humanitarian and Migrant Worker Advocacy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAEAI, Refugee & Immigrant Support Services, with a secondary code of BPADAHAI, Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment). Its NAICS code is 813311 and its SIC code is 8300.