We all understand that the opportunity to improve people's welfare exists in the current era until 2035 because it is an opportunity to attain a demographic dividend that must be transformed into a welfare bonusJakarta (ANTARA) - To reap a demographic dividend, Indonesia needs to keep stunting cases as low as possible, head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), Hasto Wardoyo, has said.
"We all understand that the opportunity to improve people's welfare exists in the current era until 2035 because it is an opportunity to attain a demographic dividend that must be transformed into a welfare bonus," he remarked at a webinar accessed from here on Monday.
According to Wardoyo, without quality human resources, Indonesia would only reap a demographic dividend in terms of quantity, namely a large, but not necessarily productive, working-age population.
Thus, stunting needs to be reduced as far as possible to develop superior human resources so that the demographic dividend can improve the income per capita of citizens and families throughout the country, he said.
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"With the transparency of public information, of course, we are eager to make efforts to accelerate the reduction of stunting supported by various related parties," he added.
He expressed the hope that the stunting rate, which was recorded at 27.7 percent in 2019, would be lowered to 14 percent by 2024, in line with the target that the government has set.
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The government, over the last few years, has carried out several programs involving many ministries and institutions and spent a big budget to accelerate the reduction of childhood stunting in Indonesia, Wardoyo noted.
"However, efforts for accelerating the decline (in stunting rate) still need to be increased because the synergy between ministries and institutions must be established in a convergence way," the BKKBN head remarked.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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