EU-ABC: Multi-Party Collaboration Key to Success of Free Nutritious Meal Programme

Jakarta - Collaboration between the government, the private sector, academia, and civil society is considered a key factor in ensuring the success of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme and various efforts to improve nutritional resilience in Indonesia. This view emerged during the launch of the latest ASEAN health report published by the EU-ASEAN Business Council in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/6). EU-ABC Executive Director Chris Humphrey stated that Indonesia’s various initiatives in nutrition and public health, including the MBG programme and efforts to reduce stunting, demonstrate the right policy direction. “The main challenge now is ensuring the effective implementation of these various programmes on a broad scale. As Indonesia advances its ambitious nutrition initiatives such as MBG, multi-party collaboration will be key to translating policy ambition into measurable results,” he said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday. The report, titled “Health, Nutrition & Lifestyle: Boosting ASEAN’s Health and Economic Resilience Through a Life-Course Framework,” emphasises the importance of a life-course approach in strengthening the region’s health and economic resilience. The report identifies three main pillars: strengthening nutritional resilience, promoting healthy lifestyles, and enhancing self-care practices as the foundation for building a healthy and productive human capital. Furthermore, the report positions preventive health as a strategic investment that can improve the quality of life, reduce the burden of healthcare financing, increase workforce productivity, and strengthen the region’s economic competitiveness. Discussions at the forum also highlighted the importance of shifting the approach from food security to nutrition security, ensuring that food is not only available but also safe, nutritious, affordable, and accessible to the public. Meanwhile, a representative from the Directorate of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health, Sri Ridha Hasanah, affirmed that improving public health and economic growth can go hand in hand. “If we share the same public health goals, there is always room for collaboration. We do not view economic growth and public health as conflicting objectives,” she said.