Tanoto Foundation Joins Forces with World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Indonesian Government to Fight Stunting

Since September 2019, the Tanoto Foundation, an independent family philanthropy organisation founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, has worked closely with the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indonesian government to reduce the high prevalence of stunting in the country.

The Tanoto Foundation subsequently became a founding member of the World Bank’s Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) for Indonesia Human Capital Acceleration (IHCA). Operating from 2020 to 2024, the MDTF will support and accelerate whole-of-government stunting reduction efforts. Both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Tanoto Foundation have committed a total USD 4 million donation to the MDTF.

Tanoto Foundation Supports Human Capital Development

The Tanoto Foundation has already set in motion a series of human capital development initiatives under its flagship SIGAP and PINTAR programs. These programs respectively seek to develop and enhance capacities in early childhood education and development (ECED) and basic education. Because the Foundation believes in harnessing the transformative power of education to accelerate the creation of opportunities to realize one’s potential, both SIGAP and PINTAR seek to strengthen and safeguard the key nodes in the educational lifecycle across the nation.

The Foundation’s support of the MDTF IHCA is an extension of existing efforts to not only support and drive changes to support existing stunting mitigation efforts, but also catalyze multi-sectoral collaboration to ensure sustainable outcomes with a thriving next-generation.

Board of Trustees Member Belinda Tanoto has in recent years brought to the fore the challenges and opportunities surrounding stunting mitigation in Indonesia. Her 2019 and 2020 opinion editorials in the national newspapers stressed the importance of multi-sectoral support for whole-of-government efforts in stunting mitigation. Ms Tanoto added that the critical driving factors of behavioral change communication, social entrepreneurship, and public-private partnerships could help the nation navigate the multidimensional issue that is stunting.

In recent times, the Foundation ramped up efforts in creating greater public awareness on the matter when it launched its inaugural Stunting Awareness Month in July 2020. The social media-based campaign reached out to tens of thousands online, providing educational and myth-busting information on the major human capital development impediment that is stunting.

With more than one in four Indonesian children stunted and unable to realize their full potential, it is critically important that more organizations and institutions provide their support to help the country fight stunting and realize its sustainable development goals.

The Multi Donor Trust Fund for Indonesia Human Capital Acceleration

The World Bank’s Multi Donor Trust Fund seeks to support the Indonesian government to establish and sustain strong leadership, improve the quality of spending at the national and local levels, improve sector and local performance, and empower citizen engagement in frontline service delivery. This support leverages programmatic policy, advisory, analytics and technical support to help realize the government’s long-term vision in improving human capital results.

The MDTF will finance a range of activities for which the World Bank has implementation responsibility. This includes four main components encompassing:

1. Leadership, knowledge and learnings
2. Support for sector reforms, jobs, equity and inclusion
3. Local service delivery performance, capacity and innovation
4. Behavior change communication, citizen engagement and social accountability

The engagement pillars of the MDTF involve supporting the government in its USD 14.6 billion National Strategy to Accelerate Stunting Prevention (StraNas Stunting) implementation via policy support and the World Bank’s Investment in Nutrition and Early Life program; improving the quality of learning outcomes in school; and addressing regional inequalities in human capital development.

Being one of the first countries to adopt the World Bank’s Human Capital Project, Indonesia is well-placed to fight stunting, due to not only the government’s resolve and leadership, but also the increasing support of various stakeholders united by a common purpose.