ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The Government of Japan and UNICEF Indonesia, in collaboration with the National Nutrition agency, have launched a new partnership to support the implementation of the free nutritious meal programme and enhance the quality of education, nutrition, and overall wellbeing for children in Biak district, Papua Province.
Through this partnership, young children will be supported with access to quality learning, nutrition, and development opportunities in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres and primary schools. This integrated programme aims to provide children with the nurturing care and services they need for the best start in life.
Indonesia has made significant progress in improving children’s wellbeing, including access to education, reducing malnutrition rates, and improving access to health and nutrition services. However, regional disparities remain. Therefore, ensuring that every child receives quality social services continues to be a development priority. Children in the Papua provinces lag behind their peers in learning outcomes and face developmental challenges, including malnutrition.
Ambassador of Japan to Indonesia, Mr. Masaki Yasushi stated Japan would like to contribute to school meals in Indonesia by utilizing Japan’s 100-year history of school meals experiences. Japan is also engaged in a project to develop fishing ports, freezing facilities, and markets on six remote islands through JICA’s grant aid, and the catch is increasing at the Biak Fishing Port, which was completed in October 2021.
“Japanese school meals are actively promoting local production for local consumption, and we would like to promote collaboration between the two projects so that school meals in this central kitchen can utilize fish from the Biak Fishing Port, which is rich in nutrients including protein,” said Masaki, February 24, 2025.
With funding support of $3.4 million over two years from the Government of Japan, UNICEF will assist Papua’s provincial and district authorities in providing nutritious and cost-efficient school meals, for ECD and primary school students using locally-sourced food and integrated essential nutrition services.
The partnership will also provide professional development training to teachers to improve the quality and inclusiveness of teaching and learning in the classrooms, particularly in literacy, numeracy and nutrition awareness. Additionally, outreach to parents on matters relating to nurturing care and development of their children will be conducted.
Capacity development and training for government personnel on planning and budgeting for sustainable Free Nutritious Meals programmes and quality education services will also be an important area of work under this partnership to promote sustainability.
UNICEF Indonesia’s Country Representative, Maniza Zaman, stated: “Every child has the right to develop to their fullest potential, which includes access to quality social services. Nutritious meals and nurturing learning environments are key ingredients for every child’s healthy development and future success. UNICEF is proud to partner with the Government of Japan to support Indonesia’s efforts in enhancing education and nutrition services for children in Papua.”
The programme will reach 2,500 pre-primary and primary school-age children with enhanced nutrition and education services during the course of this partnership.
Additionally, 150 teachers and principals will be receiving trainings on pedagogical skills and nutrition screening, while 2,500 parents will benefit from knowledge about good nutrition and nurturing care. A total of 270 Government officials, cooking teams, teachers and school heads will benefit from capacity-building initiatives around school meals.
The programme will also provide 50 policy makers with capacity building on planning and budgeting, in addition to generating evidence, to support the sustainability of the Free Nutritious Meals programme.
This new partnership, which addresses education and nutrition in an integrated manner, builds on the success of several past collaborations between the Government of Japan and UNICEF in Indonesia.
These focused on early childhood development, safe return to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and school-based adolescent nutrition programmes in Papua. (AT Network)
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