Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai emphasized that the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program is part of the state's efforts to fulfill the basic rights of the people.
According to him, evaluation of the implementation of the MBG program needs to be placed within the framework of improving governance, not immediately assessed as a human rights violation.
In his statement in Jakarta on Tuesday, Pigai said that MBG is a development process aimed at improving the nutritional quality of the community, especially vulnerable groups, as part of fulfilling the rights to food, health, and education as recognized in various international human rights instruments.
"In the context of human rights, the MBG is still an ongoing process of achieving fulfillment of human rights needs . Furthermore, the MBG program is a development process aimed at realizing human rights standards. Therefore, it should not be considered a human rights violation," Pigai said.
He stated that evaluation of program implementation remains necessary to ensure the optimal fulfillment of basic rights. However, assessments of human rights violations must be conducted carefully and proportionately.
"However, an evaluative assessment is necessary. Don't just call it a human rights violation. You don't understand human rights principles if you just say things like that," he said.
Pigai explained that various international human rights instruments encourage countries to strengthen their public protection systems by providing health services, education, food, and other basic needs without discrimination.
In this context, MBG is considered to be in line with a human rights-based development approach.
According to Pigai, the program, which expands community access to basic needs, including nutritional needs, is also in line with global standards developed by various international institutions, including human rights mechanisms under the United Nations (UN).
He added that the modern human rights framework is closely linked to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, which emphasizes poverty reduction, social equality, and the empowerment of vulnerable groups.
"In this context, a development approach that prioritizes social equality, poverty reduction, and the empowerment of vulnerable groups is an important part of the strategy to fulfill human rights," he said.
Pigai added that MBG is an instrument to accelerate the achievement of these goals by improving the quality of nutrition and public health.
"The MBG program intentionally focuses on those who are most disadvantaged first, working towards empowerment and inclusion for young people and marginalized groups," he said.
Previously, Komnas HAM presented the results of monitoring the implementation of MBG and recommended an evaluation of program governance, including those related to supervision, transparency, nutritional quality, inter-agency coordination, and protection of workers involved in program implementation.
According to Pigai, this input can be part of efforts to improve the implementation of MBG to make it more effective in fulfilling the basic rights of the community.
