TALISMAN

The Talisman Project

Educate, Empower, Protect

Every child in Malaysia educated, protected, empowered and heard.

Srividhya Ganapathy and Ajeet Kaur, co-chairpersons of CRIB Foundation, started the Talisman Project in December 2016. Now CRIB’s youth arm, it educates children aged 12 to 16 on their rights and the issues that affect them, and trains them as child advocates.

Talisman Project participants and mentors beside a spray-painted Child Rights mural — The Talisman Project, 2016 edition.

Why the camp is free

We obtain funding and keep the camp free so that no child loses out on the experience purely for economic reasons, and so that parents with more than one child can still send their children to camp. Children in Malaysia are rarely treated as rights holders, so even if a child wants to attend camp out of interest or passion, the child must first get the consent of their parents. We remove the fee so that this is one less barrier for the child who wants to be part of this.

What our alumni do

The project is now led by its youth leaders, with a team of about 20 alumni. Alumni have served on the SUHAKAM and Petaling Jaya child councils, co-authored the Malaysia Alternative Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the United Nations in 2024, spoken in Parliament at World Children’s Day 2023, and represented the Pelajar Bukan Pengantin coalition at the UNICEF-UNFPA Regional Round Table on Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Bangkok in 2023.

The Talisman Project, 2018 edition, sponsored by DIGI.

A participant writing on a whiteboard during a session on bullying, seen from behind — A session on bullying, The Talisman Project, 2025 edition.

Talisman Project participants and mentors seated on a staircase — The Talisman Project, 2025 edition.

Poster for Dear PM, a Children’s Day session by Talisman Project children — Dear PM, a Children’s Day session led by Talisman Project children.

Let’s talk about child rights, in white and black lettering — Let’s talk about child rights, The Talisman Project, 2023 edition.

Watch Talisman Project children facilitating a forum on bullying (video, CRIB Foundation on Facebook).

Under 18 (-18)

Since 2021, Talisman alumni have run Under 18 (-18), a podcast by children for children.

Support the camp

The camp is free for every child. Support the Talisman Project.