UNAIR NEWS – Desa Emas (Golden Village) program of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM), widely known as the Stunting Elimination program, aims to accelerate the stunting reduction in East Java. The program was held by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) of East Java, Universitas Airlangga, and some other universities in the province. From September to December, the program was conducted in several cities and districts in East Java, including Bangkalan Regency, Madura.
Rizki Dwi Febriano, a Public Administration student, led the group assigned to the East Lantek Village, with Sri Munawaroh and Muhammad Hasan Al Banna, Nursing and Medicine student respectively. Rizki stated that Desa Emas aims to accelerate the stunting reduction in East Java through various specifically designed programs based on each regional characteristic.
“The selected theme is accelerating the stunting reduction and decreasing its rate in East Java,” he said.
Implementation of five pillars of Desa Emas
In the implementation of Desa Emas, students must conduct five pillars program, including Forum Group Discussion (FGD), Audit Assistance, Anti-Stunting Campaign, LADUNI dissemination, and mapping of local food potential.
“First, conducting FGD on the preparedness of human resources and funding for stunting reduction with the village government. Second, providing audit assistance on stunting cases and Rumah Dataku. Third, conducting participatory anti-stunting campaign through TikTok video, creating educational media, and providing behavior change education for Posyandu cadres, midwives, and family support teams,” Rizki explained.
“Fourth, conducting pre-marriage integrated service dissemination (LADUNI) and Multiple Micronutrients (MMN), and building clean water facilities. Fifth, mapping local food potential by conducting consumption surveys for toddlers and markets or shops,” he added.
Building clean water facilities
The Public Administration student said to meet all the five pillars, the group will build two water reservoir towers in Prengan and Masaran, East Lantek Village, which had been prepared since September.
“The preparations began with the briefing in September, drafting the budget plan for the construction of clean water facilities in November, and in December, the construction will be started,” Rizki said.
They gained new cultural and social knowledge. They also got opportunity to discuss with the stakeholders to reduce the stunting rate, including the Head of the public health center (Puskesmas), the family planning (KB) extension worker, the village apparatus, and many more.
He hoped that the program can provide accessible clean water facilities and the synergy of their work can reduce the stunting rate in the area gradually.
“Hopefully, the program can bring positive results and help the community, raising their awareness on children’s nutrition and health to reduce the stunting case,” Rizki said.
Penulis: azhar burhanuddin
Editor: Feri Fenoria
