Campaign to help children launched
Campaign to help children launched
By Tertiani Z.B. Simanjuntak
JAKARTA (JP): The government launched on Tuesday a nationwide
campaign to raise Rp 3 billion (US$400,000) to help some 30,000
undernourished children, most of them under two years old.
The "Open Minds" or Save the Indonesian Children from
Malnutrition campaign, which is targeting to collect Rp 3 billion
every year starting this month, will be publicized on local
television channels, radio stations and in print media.
The campaign will last until early next year and will be
followed by distribution of food through a program of the United
Nations Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) called the
Complementary Food Initiative (CFI).
The secretary to the coordinating minister for people's
welfare and poverty eradication, M. Soedarmadi, said the aid
would be used to buy Vitadele, a locally made nutritious cereal
recommended by Unicef's office in Indonesia.
Soedarmadi said the critical time to prevent malnutrition in
children was during their first two years of prime physical and
intellectual growth.
The government's campaign is supported by PT Procter & Gamble
Indonesia along with Unicef. The largest part of the aid will be
provided by an allocation from the company's product sales this
year.
Company vice president Peter F. Smit said part of the funding
would also be derived from the company's partners, employees and
suppliers worldwide.
"We believe we could collect Rp 2.5 billion from sales of our
products by the end of this year," Smit said at a news briefing.
He said the company produced nutritious foods in addition to
its range of shampoos, soaps, cosmetics and medicine.
Unicef's chief representative for Indonesia and Malaysia
Stephen J. Woodhouse said the program was currently aimed at
helping severely undernourished children, now estimated at about
eight million.
"But this program will be held continually. Moreover, we have
also accepted financial support from Australia, the United States
and the United Kingdom. We are strongly committed to making the
program successful."
He said Unicef's date showed that more than half of the babies
were suffering from anemia, leading to a loss of about 10 IQ
points. He said that severe malnutrition could cause death in
preschool children.
The program is focused on malnourished children in urban
areas, especially slums, and in coastal villages.
The office of the coordinating minister of people's welfare
and poverty eradication signed an agreement on Tuesday to
cooperate with the international non-governmental organization,
Save the Children Alliance.
The organization's program director, Donna Leigh Holden, said
the cooperation included the provision and distribution of 10,000
hygiene kits for displaced East Timorese children in East Nusa
Tenggara.
The alliance, operating in 70 countries, will open a branch
office in the capital in the foreseeable future which will be
called Save the Children Indonesia.