Currently, over one-third of children under five years old in Indonesia experience stunted growth, as measured by international standards of height for age. Consequences of nutritional deprivation in a child’s early life include higher infant and child mortality, increased susceptibility to infection and illness, reduced adult physical stature, and impaired cognitive abilities, all of which result in long-term economic losses to individuals and society.
The compact’s $131.5 million project seeks to reduce and prevent low birth weight, childhood stunting, and malnourishment of children in project areas. The project will target approximately 7,000 villages in provinces where rates of stunting and low birth weight in infants and children up to two years old are higher than national averages.
Drawing on a growing body of international evidence on interventions to reduce stunting and low birth weight, the project provides an incentives-based scheme to increase demand for tools to reduce stunting, while improving the health sector’s capacities to respond to increased demand. The project builds on existing community engagement mechanisms tested under a community-driven pilot program, Generasi, which successfully supported community efforts to improve targeted health, nutrition, and education indicators.