Indigenous women in West Papua, Indonesia must have knowledge about stunting and reproductive health, especially those who live in various villages.

Because, cases of child stunting in the family environment, among other things, are caused by women’s lack of knowledge about; health, including reproductive health, and regarding nutritional needs for children from the womb.

Another factor is that there are cases of child stunting in certain family environments due to the problem of household economic poverty which causes them to not have adequate access to obtain nutritional sources.

This condition is a serious concern for the Head of the Women’s Empowerment Service, Child Protection and Family Planning, Johanna Nap. He provides education to Papuan women almost every day in villages from the Padaido/Aimando Islands to the Numfor Islands.

Its presence in the community to educate about stunting prevention and women’s reproductive health in every village is now starting to show results. There is awareness among residents of the importance of reproductive health and providing nutritious food for children.

Johanna’s presence in various villages is to carry out the Biak Numfor District Government’s big mission to eliminate child stunting cases to zero. A big challenge that is believed to be conquerable.

Even though stunting cases in Biak Numfor Regency continue to decline, further intervention is still needed to reduce it to as low as possible. In 2021, stunting cases were recorded at 34 percent, then in 2022 it fell to 27 percent, and by the end of December 2023 there were only 6.1 percent or approximately 300 cases of child stunting in Biak Numfor.

Various strategic policies have been implemented by the regional government through the Women’s Empowerment Service, Child Protection and Family Planning to reduce child stunting rates to zero cases.

Since being appointed Head of the Women’s Empowerment Service, Child Protection and Family Planning in December 2022, Johanna has focused on fighting stunting cases without having to ignore other health problems that must be addressed. The Biak Numfor District Government really hopes that in Johanna’s hands, stunting cases can decrease drastically.

Providing education directly to residents is Johanna’s choice, considering that many women still do not have adequate education.

In fact, there are some women in various villages who have not had the opportunity to enjoy education due to various factors.

However, with various appropriate strategic policies, the Biak Numfor Regency Government is optimistic that it will be able to overcome child stunting, and can even make children in Biak Numfor Regency free from stunting this year.

Healthy Kitchen

In order to achieve zero stunting cases in Biak Numfor Regency by 2024, concrete steps are needed which will be a big job for the Biak Numfor Regency Government.

To overcome zero cases of child stunting by 2024, it requires hard work from stakeholders across local government agencies, including adequate budget allocations.

The Biak Numfor Regency Government, through the Women’s Empowerment Service, Child Protection and Family Planning, has implemented a child stunting prevention program by creating healthy kitchens in villages.

It is hoped that the provision of a healthy kitchen in the village will be able to provide nutritious food intake for children under five and pregnant women who also need nutritional intake.

Through this healthy kitchen, parents can use local natural ingredients, such as sago, pokem (a type of wheat), taro, bananas and fish. These food ingredients can be processed in a healthy kitchen to become a source of nutritious food.

The availability of healthy food in a healthy kitchen can overcome cases of child stunting in villages. The existence of this healthy kitchen also makes it easier for every family to access healthy food.

Another stunting prevention program for children under five is also carried out through stunting consultations involving various agencies; to accelerate the reduction in cases of child growth and development disorders.

Convergence action to accelerate integrated stunting reduction is one of the instruments in the form of activities used to increase the integration of specific and sensitive nutritional interventions in efforts to prevent child stunting.

This means that this action applies a special approach or treatment based on the cases experienced by children. Because there is special treatment per child, this approach is more effective in dealing with tengkes.

Nutrition interventions are aimed at every household in Biak Numfor Regency. With a direct approach to families, stunting prevention is believed to be more effective.

Healthy Food Program

Mother of Biak Numfor Preschool, Papua, Ruth Naomi Rumkabu, was also moved to overcome the problem of stunting by running a program providing additional food for young children.

The distribution of additional food in the form of milk, green beans, eggs and vitamins reached various villages, carried out by the Preschool Mother together with the Family Welfare Empowerment Community Mobilization Team and the Biak Numfor Himpaudi Working Group.

Apart from that, Ruth and the Himpaudi Biak working group also provide education in villages about healthy and clean living habits to Papuan women.

He also invited parents to take advantage of the potential of local food, such as sago, fish and vegetables as a source of healthy food for local children.

Women’s activist Mama Min Weyai also emphasized the importance of women being at the forefront in ensuring that Papuan children remain healthy and free of stunting.

The way to do this is to ensure that children’s nutritional needs are met. In this case, the role and concern of parents to fulfill their children’s nutrition is very important in order to prepare Papua’s golden generation in the future.