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.