Komnas HAM Recommends Evaluation of SPPG Governance in Free Nutritious Meal Programme

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has recommended a thorough evaluation of the governance of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) within the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme to strengthen oversight, transparency, and the effectiveness of fulfilling the public’s right to food and health. Komnas HAM Commissioner for Assessment and Research, Uli Parulian Sihombing, stated in Jakarta on Monday that the recommendation was compiled based on a series of assessments and monitoring conducted by Komnas HAM through discussions with relevant ministries and agencies, nutritionists, civil society organisations, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), and field studies in West Kalimantan, West Java, and East Java. According to Komnas HAM, the MBG programme is one of the government’s priority programmes to improve the nutritional status of children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers. However, its implementation still requires strengthened governance so that the programme’s objectives can be achieved optimally. One of Komnas HAM’s findings is the need to sharpen the targeting of beneficiaries so that the programme more effectively reaches the groups most in need, including communities in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions, poor families, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers. ‘Ensuring that the implementation of the MBG programme is targeted only at vulnerable groups and communities most in need, particularly toddlers, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, students from households in deciles 1 to 4, and/or those located in 3T regions,’ Uli said. Furthermore, Komnas HAM noted the need for increased transparency regarding the administration and standard operating procedures of SPPG, including information on the Hygiene and Sanitation Eligibility Certificate (SLHS) and the mechanism for imposing sanctions if food safety standards are violated. In its recommendations, Komnas HAM requested the government to evaluate the governance of the MBG programme’s implementation, covering beneficiaries, oversight mechanisms, service distribution, and SPPG performance. ‘Conduct an evaluation of the MBG programme’s governance, including beneficiaries, oversight mechanisms, distribution assignments in service areas, and SPPG performance evaluations in accordance with human rights principles,’ Uli stated. Komnas HAM hopes this evaluation will strengthen the quality of the MBG programme’s implementation so that the benefits of improved public nutrition can be achieved more effectively, accountably, and sustainably.