Hasto Wardoyo Visits Kotabaru to Address Stunting and Promote the 2045 Golden Generation
Dr. (Hc) Dr. Hasto Wardoyo, SP.Og (K), the Head of the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) of Indonesia, visited Kotabaru Regency in South Kalimantan to discuss the government’s strategy to prevent and lower the rates of stunting, in order to achieve the 2045 Golden Generation goal.
During his visit, Hasto Wardoyo expressed his hope that the existing human resources in Kotabaru would result in a decline in the prevalence of stunting. “By utilizing the available human resources, I am optimistic that the stunting rate in Kotabaru Regency will decrease, as it has in other areas,” he said during his visit on Wednesday, May 17th.
The strategy to prevent stunting involves educating and creating a safe environment for couples who plan to have children. Hasto mentioned four possible sources of funding towards this strategy, such as the Village Fund, Health Department and Social Program Funds from the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as the Gotong Royong Bapam/Bunda Asuh.
As the Director of the Stunting Prevention and Acceleration Team (TPPS) in Kotabaru, Bupati Sayed Jafar shared that they still have a lot of work to do in order to reduce stunting rates. Based on the SSGI data from 2021, the prevalence of stunting in Kotabaru is still around 21%, with a target to reduce to 13.24% by 2024.
The team’s coordination meeting resulted in placing practical actions to address stunting, such as distributing supplementary food and improving access to clean water and sanitation facilities. They also started working on decreasing the prevalence of stunting in specific villages. In 2021, the number of villages where stunting occurred decreased from 41 to 31. As of 2022, there are 24 such villages, and by 2023, they aim to completely remove stunting in the remaining 198 villages and 4 sub-districts in Kotabaru.
In addition, they are implementing programs like the Keluarga Berkualitas (Quality Family) program and have established the Bapak/Bunda Asuh Anak (BAAS) program. Companies in Kotabaru have also started providing support through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding. They are also providing education and counseling to teenagers and pregnant women.
Bupati hoped that these programs would be carried out in a synergistic manner by the government, universities, civil society organizations, community and media. He also emphasized the importance of accurate and integrated data reporting systems to ensure that there are no mistakes in data analysis and problem identification, which can serve as the basis for intervention planning.
Overall, the government and local stakeholders in Kotabaru are working hard to solve the problem of stunting in their region. With collaborative efforts and continued programs, they aim to achieve the 2045 Golden Generation target.
