Indonesia and 68 Nations Call for Children's Access to Nutritious Food at UN

Indonesia and 68 other nations have called for access to nutritious food for children to be recognised as part of fulfilling human rights, particularly the right to health and a dignified life. The joint statement was delivered at the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health. Support for the statement came from countries across Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, demonstrating that ensuring child nutrition is a shared interest that transcends geographical borders and political differences. Indonesia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Achsanul Habib, stated that uniting dozens of countries from various regions in a single position was not an easy task, but it underscored the growing recognition of access to nutritious food as an urgent and universal human rights issue. Indonesia emphasised that access to adequate food and nutrition forms the foundation for fulfilling the right to health, yet billions of people worldwide still face food insecurity and millions of children suffer from malnutrition, impacting their growth, development, and future. The situation is particularly dire in areas affected by conflict and humanitarian crises, where access to nutritious food and basic services is often the first to be disrupted. Through the joint statement, the group urged all states to strengthen equitable and sustainable access to nutritious food for children. Recommended measures include implementing school meal programmes, building resilient local food systems, and ensuring social protection policies reach the most vulnerable groups. Indonesia highlighted its own national commitment through the Free Nutritious Meals programme, a government priority initiative aimed at improving access to nutritious food for tens of millions of beneficiaries, including schoolchildren and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers across the country. Indonesia asserted that fulfilling child nutrition is not merely a social policy but a state obligation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, stating that no child should lose their future due to hunger or malnutrition.