Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo's administration's top minister unveiled that meat of Qurbani animals sacrificed by Indonesian Hajj pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the recent Eid al-Adha celebrations, would be shipped to Indonesia to fight childhood stunting.

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy stated that a Saudi Arabia-based company will process the Qurbani meat into canned meat and ready-to-eat food products before being sent to Indonesia.

After being shipped to Indonesia, the Qurbani meat products would then be distributed to families in need and eligible for stunting prevention efforts by the government, he told journalists here, Wednesday.

"May this Qurbani meat program become a good step for us to prevent stunting among our children," Muhadjir remarked.

To this end, he planned to visit Saudi Arabia on July 3, 2024, to inspect the company that cooperates with the Indonesian government in processing canned and ready-to-eat food products, he noted.

His ministry also coordinated with Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the National Alms Agency (Baznas) whose team of personnel happened to remain in Saudi Arabia, he revealed.

Muhadjir, however, said he has yet to know the total number of products to be shipped to Indonesia, as this relies on the company's production capacity.

Concerning stunting, the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined that children with stunted growth are those whose "height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median."

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) affirmed earlier that the government continues its endeavors to lower stunting prevalence, from 37 percent to 14 percent this year.

"Our target is to reduce stunting prevalence from 37 to 14 percent. This is very ambitious. However, we have to work hard to achieve the target," President Jokowi stated recently.

At present, stunting among children has been observed in several provinces, including East Nusa Tenggara and East Java.

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Translator: Lintang BP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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