Do not let there be malnutrition and stunting around IKN,
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Head of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP)Moeldokohas said that he wants Indonesia’s new capital (IKN), Nusantara, to become a children-friendly city that is free from stunting and malnutrition.He conveyed his wish during a meeting with representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Indonesia at Bina Graha Building here on Thursday.
“UNICEF needs to think about the strengthening of IKN, especially to expand assistance to regional governments around the North Penajam Paser district area (the location of IKN). Do not let there be malnutrition and stunting around IKN,” he said, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
The Indonesian government has worked hard to achieve the stunting reduction target, in line with the IKN construction target, he said.
“The hope is, in 2024, when we move to IKN, there will be no more stunting and malnutrition cases,” he added.
Moeldoko expressed the hope that a large-scale campaign against stunting will be carried out by UNICEF along with KSP, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), the Ministry of Health, and several other ministries.
Stunting is one of the issues that have become the main concern of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), he noted.
President Widodo’s stunting reduction policies have shown promising results, with Indonesia’s stunting prevalence declining to 21.6 percent in 2022. The government is targeting to reduce the figure further to 14 percent by 2024.
UNICEF has consulted with the KSP since 2017 regarding the issue of immunization and collaborated with the stunting reduction acceleration task force chaired by Vice President Ma’ruf Amin.
fter the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN agencyhas committed to helping the Indonesian government improve health services provided to the community, which lagged for two years due to the focus on COVID-19 handling.
“Like what has been said by Mr. Moeldoko, UNICEF also wants IKN to become a children-friendly city that is acknowledged by the world through the Child Friendly Cities Initiatives (CFCI),” country representative of UNICEF Indonesia, Maniza Zaman, said.
“UNICEF is very interested to continue the discussion regarding this matter, as well as the digitalization of stunting data to achieve the stunting prevalence target in 2024,” she added.
UNICEF also said that Indonesia needs to show its efforts to handle stunting to the world, following in the footsteps of four countries, namely Peru, Thailand, Vietnam, and Brazil, which have succeeded in documenting their success in reducing stunting prevalence.
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Source: Antara News