Indonesia Promotes ASEAN School Meal and Child Nutrition Collaboration Through ASEAN-ID Nourish Forum

Indonesia is promoting the strengthening of ASEAN actions in child nutrition and school nutritious meals through the organisation of the ASEAN-ID Nourish: Forum on Healthy School Meals and Nutrition for Human Capital Development and Resilient Food System. The event is scheduled to take place from 28-30 April 2026 at the Gumaya Hotel in Semarang, Central Java. This forum reflects Indonesia’s commitment to advancing regional cooperation on school meal programmes and child nutrition in ASEAN. Nutritious food and good nutrition are key to supporting human resource development and strengthening regional food resilience systems. Through ASEAN, Indonesia can expand collaboration spaces with member countries and external ASEAN partners, sharing experiences, best practices, and policy approaches to school meal and child nutrition programmes. This also supports national priorities for building healthy, superior, and competitive human resources. Semarang Mayor Agustina Wilujeng welcomes the ASEAN-ID Nourish Forum and the national dialogue on best practices for nutritious meals. “Synergy with experts and direct reviews of service units become capital for each region. We want high nutritional standards and strict food safety to be the main foundation for the success of the Free Nutritious Meal Programme across Indonesia,” Agustina said in her statement on Monday (27/4/2026). It is known that the ASEAN-ID Nourish Forum was initiated by the Directorate General of ASEAN Cooperation of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) in collaboration with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the Semarang City Government (Pemkot). The event will be held concurrently with the National Dialogue on Best Practices for Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) organised by the Semarang City Government and attended by national stakeholders. The forum will bring together representatives from ASEAN member countries, ASEAN partner countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), and participants from the National Dialogue on Best Practices for MBG. Participants will discuss various important aspects in implementing school meal programmes, from strengthening local supply chains, food safety and hygiene, waste management, to utilising technology to improve monitoring and accountability. The forum also highlights the strategic role of SMEs, cooperatives, and local actors in supporting food ingredient provision and strengthening the local economy through school meal programme supply chains. As part of the event series, participants are scheduled to visit the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) in Semarang to directly observe programme implementation in the field, including the involvement of local actors in the nutritious food supply chain. Furthermore, the organisation of this forum aligns with the mandates of ASEAN Leaders, particularly through the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises in 2023, which encourages strengthening more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems. Through the ASEAN-ID Nourish Forum, Indonesia is promoting more concrete, collaborative, and impactful regional cooperation in food, nutrition, and human resource development for ASEAN communities.