Government, NGOs move to prevent 'lost generation'<\/p>\n
Leo Wahyudi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Representatives of state agencies and nongovernmental
\norganizations (NGOs) agreed here on Monday to step up various
\nnutrition programs to reduce the number of undernourished
\nchildren and thereby prevent the emergence of a \"lost
\ngeneration.\"<\/p>\n
The meeting, hosted by the office of the coordinating minister
\nfor people's welfare, endorsed the government target of reducing
\nthe prevalence of undernourished children from 26.4 percent in
\n1999 to 20 percent in 2005 -- a decrease of 0.6 percent per
\nannum.<\/p>\n
According to data from the United Nations Children's Fund
\n(Unicef), about 10 million children in 2000 were undernourished,
\nof which 1.7 million suffered serious malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said
\nthe economic downturn and sectarian conflicts had both
\ncontributed to the huge number of undernourished children.<\/p>\n
He noted that currently some 330,000 refugees still lived in
\nsqualid temporary settlements nationwide. Those people, including
\ntheir children, were prone to severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Some of the best ways of reducing the undernourishment
\nproblem, Kalla said, would be to stimulate economic growth and
\nsettle refugee problems.<\/p>\n
At the micro level, the government, through various
\nministries, had also pursued its own programs to alleviate
\npoverty and tackle malnutrition, according to Farid Husain, a
\ndeputy to Kalla.<\/p>\n
Such programs, however, were not well coordinated and often
\noverlapped, Farid added.<\/p>\n
\"The support given to the needy often does not fulfill their
\nneeds,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that his office would coordinate such programs, so
\nthat they would be more beneficial to the needy.<\/p>\n
Damasus, an activist from Catholic Relief Services, said many
\nNGOs, as well as world bodies, had been helping the government to
\ntackle the problems of undernourishment and malnutrition after
\nthe crisis reached its height in 1998.<\/p>\n
The World Food Program and Unicef are two organizations that
\nare active in helping to reduce the prevalence of undernourished
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
The problem was, according to Damasus, that the government
\nitself did not have a clear mission or programs to reduce the
\nincidence of undernourishment.<\/p>\n
After the fall of the New Order era, Damasus said, the
\ngovernment had lost the spirit to fight against poverty and
\nmalnutrition because it was too preoccupied with political
\nissues.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an official at the National Development Planning
\nAgency (Bappenas), Taufik Hanafi, said the central government
\nalone would not be able to tackle malnutrition problems.<\/p>\n
He suggested that local administrations be involved in a
\nconcerted nutrition program to prevent the emergence of a \"lost
\ngeneration.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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