If we are not declaring war against (stunting), it will be difficult for us to be an advanced country, and one criterion for it is a stunting-free status
Palembang, South Sumatra (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Muhadjir Effendy stated that stunting is one of the factors hindering the development of Indonesian human resources and efforts to achieve the status of advanced country.

Speaking at the 2023 National Family Day press conference held here on Tuesday, the minister called for optimizing efforts to save people from stunting, which he termed as a "worldly hell."

"I must say that today, we are exerting efforts to save our family from hell. However, hell is not only encountered in the afterlife but there is also a worldly hell," Effendy stated here.

The coordinating minister emphasized that the government continues to focus on reducing stunting prevalence, particularly after the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI) report in 2022 that showed the percentage had reached 21.6 percent, a slight decline, from 24.4 percent in the previous year.

The Indonesian government aims to reduce the stunting prevalence rate to 14 percent by 2024.

"If we are not declaring war against (stunting), it will be difficult for us to be an advanced country, and one criterion for it is a stunting-free status," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the coordinating minister pointed out that the second factor hindering national development is extreme poverty, which is one of the causes of stunting prevalence.

He noted that according to the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data in March 2022, the national extreme poverty rate stood at 2.04 percent of the population, or 5.59 million people, a slight decline from 5.8 million people recorded in March 2021.

Effendy affirmed that the government strives to suppress extreme poverty to zero percent by 2024.

Social diseases, such as drug abuse and terrorism, also pose a challenge in realizing an advanced Indonesia, he remarked while emphasizing the need to step up efforts to eradicate them.

Effendy expressed hope that the 30th National Family Day commemoration in the province's Banyuasin District on July 6 would offer the momentum to bolster collaboration among all parties to realize quality, happy, and stunting-free families.

"Why family is important? (It is) because family is the smallest unit of a country. If the family is good and happy, then the country, theoretically, will also be happy," he remarked.

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Translator: Hreeloita DS, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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