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Public participation key to reducing malnutrition
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Better life – Young leaders trained by Plan International Indonesia take a picture after the closing ceremony of the Community Action to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition (CAIMN) in Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday. The project succeeded in reducing malnutrition in Dompu through a community action program to increase child and maternal nutrition. (thejakartapost.com/Djemi Amnifu)
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community action program initiated by Plan International Indonesia has reportedly managed to reduce the number of malnutrition cases among babies and children under 5 years old in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara and Dompu regency, West Nusa Tenggara.
“Community participation has played a big part in improving the quality of mothers and children’s nutrition intake and health delivered through the giving of additional food for babies and children,” said Plan International Indonesia deputy director Untung Pasaribu in Dompu on Thursday.
He said the Community Action to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition (CAIMN) program not only focused on mothers’ activities but also promoted male participation to reduce malnutrition among children under 5 years old through a caregiving-father group.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the CAIMN Project, Untung said Plan International Indonesia had actively cooperated with the government and local communities to improve child and maternal health. The project was in line with the Sustainable Development Goals agreed on by world leaders at a historic UN Summit in New York in September 2015, he added.
“The Sikka and Dompu administrations have shown a high level of interest in the CAIMN program since we first introduced it to them in 2012. This project is focused on improving children’s nutrition and health during their first 1,000 days of life. The project is conducted by parenting groups with target groups comprising pregnant women, breastfeeding moms and children under 5 years old,” said Untung.
Four years after it was launched in June 2012, he said, the CAIMN project in Dompu had resulted in the training of 397 integrated health services post (Posyandu) members spread over 12 villages in three districts, namely Manggelewai, Pajo and Hu’u.
Untung said the CAIMN program had managed to reduce the number of malnutrition cases among children aged 0-5 years old. In 2012, 2,707 children under 5 years old, or three out of 10 children in the area, suffered from malnutrition.
“After running for four years, as of March 2016, 2,095 children under 5 years old, or two out of 10 children, suffer from malnutrition, a decrease of 21.96 percent,” said Untung.
He hoped that what had been achieved by the CAIMN Program could be followed up by local administrations, together with Dompu residents in their efforts to push down the number of malnutrition cases among babies and children under 5 years old.
“On behalf of Plan International Indonesia, I express my gratitude for the partnership. Although the project has ended, programs initiated by the project must continue,” said Untung.
Plan International Indonesia’s CAIMN project manager Marzelena Zaini said that through the project, Plan International and the Dompu Health Agency could cooperate to push early initiation of breastfeeding practices for every woman who had recently given birth.
“Breastfeeding babies aged 0-6 months and the giving of supplemental food for babies aged 2 years and above must be continuously promoted. And the result is, from 2012 through to this year, the malnutrition rate among children aged 0-5 years old has declined by up to 12 percent,” said Marzelena.
With the program, she further said, adolescents, and especially girls, were adequately informed about reproductive health and family planning. It was important to approach teenagers to reduce the number of child and maternal deaths, because they would become parents in the future.
Dompu Health Agency head Gatot Gunawan Putra expressed his appreciation toward Plan International Indonesia for helping local administrations reduce malnutrition among babies and children under 5 years old.
Gatot said the Dompu administration would continue the program, especially the giving of supplemental food for babies and children under 5 years old. “The administration’s interventions will be conducted through budget sharing, either via the Dompu Regional Budget or village fund allocations in every village, where they hopefully can allocate funds for the giving of supplemental food for babies and children under 5 years old,” said Gatot.
Abdullah Thalib, a religious leader from Adu village in Hu’u district in Dompu regency, said the project had positively affected local communities by, among others, involving adolescents in module activities facilitated by village midwives and youth. Through the activities, teenagers in Adu village could avoid the dangers of drugs and bad behavior.
“I’m calling on village administrations to provide more proper spaces teenagers can use to discuss with their groups in the village,” said Abdullah. (ebf)
