Indonesia's Stunting Is Still 19.8 Percent High, 15 Villages Are Examples Of Declining Ways

The education process carried out by health workers for parents at one of the Posyandu in Natuna. (ANTARA)

TANGERANG The Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) gave high appreciation to the village government which was considered to have performed extraordinary performance in an effort to accelerate the reduction in stunting cases. This award was given to the 15 best villages in the workshop for evaluating the performance of human development cadres on Wednesday (9/10) night.

Mendes PDTT, Yandri Susanto, stated that these villages managed to show commitment and concrete steps in preventing stunting in their area.

15 Villages 'Selected' From Sore Thousands

Yandri Susanto admits that stunting reduction efforts are a big homework. However, the election of these 15 villages is proof that there are areas that can become a model.

"Of the thousands of villages, we took the best 15. And indeed we have some homework, but we maximize it again so that they care about stunting," said Yandri in Tangerang, Thursday.

The villages receiving these awards are considered successful in preventing and accelerating the reduction in stunting rates, supported by cross-institutional collaboration and related ministries.

Stunting Is Still High, Mendes Emphasizes Cross-Sector Collaboration

Yandri emphasized that inter-sectoral collaboration must continue to be strengthened. The Ministry of Villages PDTT cooperates with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Population, and other institutions because the percentage data on stunting cases in Indonesia is still relatively high.

"Because the stunting rate in Indonesia is still high, namely 19.8 percent, and that's a high number. Therefore, we will continue to push it, and there are many villages in terms of nutrition and human resources," he said.

Seeing the national figure that is still far from the ideal target, the Ministry of Villages PDTT ordered all levels of village heads, village assistants, and cadres of human resource development to make stunting treatment for children a top priority.

"We will reduce it to zero or zero percent, so what we are doing, the development of human resources will be better according to President Prabowo Subianto's orders," he concluded.