JAYAPURA - Acting Governor of Papua, Ramses Limbong attended the launching event of the National Foster Parents Movement to Prevent Stunting (Genting) which was held at the Papua Province National Population and Family Planning Agency Office on Thursday, December 5, 2024.

In his remarks, Ramses urged all parties to take concrete action to overcome the problem of stunting in Papua. Ramses said that the high stunting rate in the province is a common problem, and emphasized that this problem is not only the responsibility of the government but also the entire community. "Handling stunting is not the task of one party alone, this is the responsibility of all of us, from leaders to the community, if our children are stunted, how do we hope they can compete in the future? This is not only a matter of physicality, but also the quality of human resources," he said.

Stunting is considered a serious threat to the future of the younger generation. Children who experience stunting will find it difficult to compete in the future, both at the national and international levels, for this reason, the importance of the role of mothers in ensuring that children grow up healthy.

For this reason, some solutions are offered, including improving nutrition from pregnancy, education for pregnant women, monitoring child growth and development, to accurate data collection which is the key so that intervention programs are more targeted.

According to Ramses, the shortcomings that exist in a district/city must work together for real, we still have a lot of camouflage to make an activity that is reported properly and correctly, but we never know what stunting really is.

The Acting Governor of Papua asked all parties to work together in overcoming stunting, starting from the provincial to district/city levels. He also asked that the monitoring and evaluation of stunting prevention programs be carried out strictly. Ramses also emphasized the importance of increasing public access to health services and nutrition information, especially improving the nutrition of pregnant women and children under five.

By involving all parties and taking concrete steps, it is hoped that the stunting rate in Papua can soon decrease and the young generation of Papuans can grow healthy and intelligent. Whatever the government does, if it does not start from now on, it will only be a dream and a working paper.

Let's focus on starting treatment from areas with high prevalence, such as Jayapura City and surrounding districts, which currently still face major challenges in reducing stunting rates with real actions that must start now, with a targeted approach. He said that the budget was quite large, but the expected results were not optimal because the implementation was not on target.

By involving all parties and taking concrete steps, it is hoped that the stunting rate in Papua can soon decrease and the young generation of Papuans can grow healthy and smart towards a golden Indonesia 2045.

On the same occasion, the Acting Governor, Limbong also had the opportunity to provide a package of assistance for family nutritional needs to Mrs. Cyndi as a Stunting Foster Mother. ***