Villagers in NTT Join Advocacy Training, Successfully Push Government for Funding Against Stunting

Plan Indonesia through the Family Planning Cadre Capacity Building Program in Stunting Prevention (PARENTS project) in collaboration with the Kuanheun Village Government, West Kupang District, Kupang Regency, successfully held an advocacy training for the 1,000 First Days of Life parenting program for village cadres on March 28-29, 2025.

This training was attended by 50 participants who represented various important elements in efforts to prevent stunting at the village level. They consist of Toddler Family Development (BKB) cadres, Integrated Health Post (Posyandu) cadres, Family Planning (KB) cadres, elderly cadres, human development cadres (KPM), Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK) cadres, and also involve adult male cadres and young people aged 18 to 24 years.

Ramli Us Lanan Sabon, PARENTS project consultant for Kupang Regency and South Central Timor Regency said, “The involvement of various elements shows the commitment of Kuanheun Village to involve all existing potential in preventing stunting”.

On the first day of training, participants received material from Family Planning Counselors (PKB) who have been certified as facilitators of the 1,000 first days Advocacy Module. In turn, Erin D.S. Sukka and Elphince Seubelan delivered material that focused on an in-depth understanding of the Assisted Family Profile, the essence and development of the first 1,000 days program, and effective strategies in advocating to the village government. They conveyed the importance of early intervention, starting from when a child is in the womb until the age of two, as a crucial foundation for child growth and development and preventing stunting. This understanding is an important provision for the cadres to convince policymakers at the village level of the urgency of this program.

Entering the second day, the cadres practised their skills in compiling a concrete and applicable child growth and development program in Kuanheun Village. The results of this practice are the design of a BKB cadre training program for the Mother Class and Father Class, as well as the implementation of the Bina Keluarga Balita Elimination of Stunting Child Problems (BKB Emas) program in Kuanheun Village. Both programs are designed to improve parents’ knowledge and skills in providing quality care and proper nutritional fulfilment for their children from the beginning of life.

Erin said that the father class program was one of the proposed programs considering that the majority by women and mothers. A father figure has a significant influence on a child’s growth and development.

“The presence of a good father figure in raising children can increase a sense of security, protection and love in children. So that they can grow up more confident and have emotional stability,” said Erin.

Meanwhile, the BKB Emas program, according to Elphince, can provide holistic and integrative services in preventing stunting, through stimulation, early detection, intervention and referrals that are integrated with other services. “Stimulation and early detection aim to optimize children’s potential and recognize signs of deviations in children’s growth and development. So, if there is a problem in the child’s growth and development, it can be intervened and referred to the relevant health service facility,” added Elphince.

Support from The Government to Fight Stunting

The response was positive. The Head of Kuanheun Village showed a strong commitment to fully support the first 1,000-day program that has been designed by the cadres with a revised budget allocation in 2025. The plan is for this allocation to finance special cadre training for the Mother Class and Father Class and to issue a Village Head Decree (SK) for 50 trained cadres and 28 BKB Emas cadres to support their activities.

Then, as a form of ongoing support, the Kuanheun Village Government also plans incentive support for 20 mother class cadres and 8 father class cadres who work in 4 Posyandu as well as providing snacks for each implementation of BKB Emas activities. This financial support is planned to be budgeted through the Village Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBDes) for the 2026 fiscal year.

Semin R. Polin, Head of Kuan Heun Village emphasized, “In addition to the mother’s class, father’s class and BKB Emas programs, we, the village government, are also committed to increasing access to clean water and sanitation, as well as PMT for pregnant women and stunted children”. Semin added that the total budget to support the 1,000 first days program in Kuanheun Village for the 2025 budget year reached IDR 234,150,000 with details of the PMT program: IDR 85,000,000; Clean water and sanitation program: IDR 146,000,000; BKB Emas Cadre Training: IDR 3,150,000.

This commitment, for the cadres, is a great motivation for them to continue to be active and enthusiastic in carrying out their duties. Tehni Y. Lanus said, “Support from the village government is a motivation for us in carrying out our duties as cadres in the village. Through BKB Emas training, we get increased capacity”.

The success of the advocacy training for the first 1,000 days program in Kuanheun Village is expected to be an inspiration and a good example for the other 59 villages targeted by the PARENTS project in 10 other districts. The success of Kuanheun Village shows that with strong collaboration between civil society organizations such as Plan Indonesia and a high commitment from the village government, efforts to prevent stunting at the grassroots level can be effective and have a significant impact on the health and future of Indonesian children. The enthusiasm and innovation shown by Kuanheun Village are expected to be replicated in other villages so that the target of reducing stunting rates nationally can be achieved.