"Today we
must shift [...] from consumption to investment: Investment in our
infrastructure, investment in our industry, but most importantly investment in
our human capital, the most precious resource of the 21st century"
President Joko Widodo[1]
Budi, a Jakarta boy born today in the Bantar
Gebang slum could reach age 5 with a healthy start in life in 2020 and be a
successful high school student by 2030. Grace, a young girl from rural Papua turning 13 today and coming of age with a
high school diploma in 2020 could head a green technology start-up by 2030 on
her way to becoming one of the future leaders of her country.
This can be the future of a growing number of
children in a prosperous 2030 high-income Indonesia. This reality can endow Indonesia
with its future entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers, teachers, CEOs, religious
leaders and social workers.
Based on current realities, the prospects
of Budi and Grace could look radically different. Both born to poor parents,
they have low chances of evading poverty. Budi faces one chance in 25 to die
before age 5, and one chance in 3 to be stunted
in his first days of life affecting his brain capacity, future skills and earning prospects. Grace has one
chance in 6 to be married before 18 to then drop
out of school and become a teen-mom. Both
children’s exposure to child poverty, malnutrition, poor health, low quality education, and violence have costs to their bodies, brains, and to
Indonesia’s economy now and in the future. In a context of increasing
inequalities, all these drivers also increase the risks of disenfranchisement
and social detachment that could threaten the stability of the Indonesian
society.
“It’s all about giving back!” said 11 year old Kafin Sulthan, one of a whole host of Indonesian celebrities who came together to help launch the #GiveBackIndonesia campaign. Support for children can come in all sorts of ways and this latest example that Kafin talks about is a fantastic collaboration by singers and public figures who recorded a song and video entitled “Give Back Indonesia.”
The song and video, produced by music producer Stephen Laurence Harvey, aims to motivate viewers to give back to help improve the lives of children in Indonesia. Mr Harvey donated the recording to Madam Noor Traavik, the spouse of the Norwegian Ambassador for Indonesia, who later gave the rights to song and video to UNICEF.
“It's a beautiful experience for me, this song is about giving back. I think it’s meant to be, because when I came up with the idea, I got all the support, everyone seems to have time to do it. So basically the whole process is meant to be and this is my way to give back,” Mr. Harvey said during the press conference.
“I encourage and challenge, more and more young Indonesian artists to step out and help by doing similar projects, more philanthropists could donate to help the children around the world.”
The handover took place yesterday at the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence attended by a throng of journalists and some of the artists, including Kafin, who participated in the song and video.
The collaboration resonates with UNICEF’s belief that to deliver the best results for children we all need to work closely together and join efforts with many stakeholders, including the private sector, because children are everybody’s business. The private sector plays an important role in helping improve the quality of children’s lives.
“This collaboration shows that everyone can contribute, regardless of their backgrounds, for the lives of Indonesian children,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Indonesia, Gunilla Olsson during the press conference. “When I go to the fields around the archipelago and I go to villages, I see children with hope and determination in their eyes even though there are no teachers or doctors where they live. And I hope this initiative could help them have more teachers or doctors. One in three Indonesian children is stunted. Stunting is a condition where children are short for their age and this could really impact their future lives and opportunities. So I am really hopeful that this collaboration will help grow organically, a coalition for Indonesian children.”
Alongside the child star Kafin who attended the press conference, were a number of other well known singers, including Joe Taslim, Syaharani, Dira Sugandhi, Sandy Sondhoro, Kyla Christie, Reza The Groove and Brianna Simorangkir.
"I am really touched with this initiative and I will do anything in my capability to keep helping the children of Indonesia with my talent," Dira Sugandhi said. It is a sentiment shared by her fellow artists including Joe Taslim. "I fully support Give Back for Indonesia because as a parent, I too am very concerned with the future of Indonesian children, they are our future generation", said the actor.
Actor, athlete and singer Joe Taslim encourages others to raise their hand and Give Back to Indonesian Children.
Partnerships between businesses and UNICEF offer mutual benefits, combining the proven value of Corporate Social Responsibility, raising the profile of the company while enhancing UNICEF’s work on behalf of the most vulnerable children in the country. The video recording will be used by UNICEF to enhance fundraising efforts and comes with a link to the UNICEF donation page to encourage people, businesses and private sector, to Give Back to Indonesian children.
By Kristi Eaton, Communications and Knowledge Management Officer, UNICEF Indonesia
Lilis is nervous. Her 2 and 4-year-old sons are preparing to receive the polio vaccination, and she worries they may cry. The two boys huddle around her as she speaks at a local posyandu in Cilincing, a low-income neighbourhood in north Jakarta, and works to soothe them.
Still, Lilis knows the importance of her sons receiving the vaccination.
“It’s really important for them to receive it so they do not get sick from polio, because their feet can become non-functional,” she said.
Indonesia ranks sixth in the world in the number of unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated infants. Each year, an estimated 700,000 infants do not receive immunization services. Low-income urban areas like Cilincing are especially at risk for under-immunization, leaving children vulnerable to outbreaks of measles, polio and diphtheria. UNICEF is supporting the government to turn this situation around _ capitalizing on new communication technologies that allow for better monitoring and targeted interventions where existing systems fail.
A few months ago, 2-year-old twins Randy and Rendy Tabun looked fragile, lethargic and thin. The twins suffered from severe acute malnutrition and remained firmly planted in their mother’s lap, unable to stand or walk on their own.
A local nurse in their village of Nitneo village in Kupang District in eastern Indonesia took notice and the boys became two of the first patients enrolled in a new programme to treat severe acute malnutrition.
Across Indonesia, malnutrition is a serious public health problem. More than 12 per cent of children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished. Severe acute malnutrition affects 1.3 million Indonesian children and moderate acute malnutrition affects 1.6 million. With these figures, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world in the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition.
Junaedah, Kosir and Baby Mohammad Faqih: “My baby is now ready-to-go-to war against diseases.”
Junaedah’s only daughter, Soliha, would have been 5 years old now had she lived. But like too many children in Indonesia, little Soliha died at just 3 months old, from a disease she could have easily been protected from.
Her death has not been for nothing, though. The little girl’s passing helped spur Junaedah, also known as Juju, and her husband Kosir, to immunize the youngest of their six children, Mohammad Faqih.
Juju says she has already seen the difference between Mohammad Faqih and his older brothers who weren’t immunized.
“My other children were small and skinny, different from this little boy who is chubby and healthy: immune and rarely sick,” says Juju, who hails from Kluwut village in the District of Brebes, Central Java, Indonesia.
