"Village facilitators are very important, and we need to encourage them to participate actively in stunting prevention and handling," Head of the ministry's Human Resources Development and Village Community Empowerment Agency Agustomi Masik said in an online workshop on Wednesday.
According to him, each village facilitator is at the forefront of mobilizing the community to contribute to various government programs, including stunting handling.
He explained that the facilitators' main task is to assist the community in organizing village governance, implementing development projects, carrying out community development, and empowering the local economy.
He further said that addressing stunting is also part of the facilitators' task as a form of community empowerment.
Masik emphasized that stunting issues are not only related to health and economy but also to people's culture, lifestyle, and diet.
He presented data showing that stunting is not only found in poor families but also in the middle-class and even the upper-middle class.
"This indicates that stunting is not merely a matter of insufficient food, but also an issue of unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet," he added.
Stunting handling efforts, he said, must be carried out in an integrated manner involving various sectors, from health, education, the economy, to village infrastructure.
To this end, he called for the creation of a stronger legal basis to encourage all parties to move jointly in village development, including tackling stunting issues.
Earlier in September, the Deputy Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Ahmad Riza Patria, said that his ministry is targeting to have 35 thousand village facilitators in 2026.
Thus, he said, the ministry is planning to open the recruitment of village facilitators at the end of 2025.
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Translator: Tri Meilani, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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