VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Surabaya Deputy Mayor Eri Cahyadi with a child suffering from stunting. (ANTARA PHOTO/HO-Humas Pemkot Surabaya) - 

The Religious Affairs Ministry has said it is committed to ensuring couples are psychologically prepared for running a household through initiatives such as including stunting in the pre-marriage guidance curriculum, or Binwin.

"The goal of Binwin is to prepare future families that have the skill in psychology, social, and family law," Religious Affairs Vice Minister Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi said in a written statement released here on Thursday.

Family resilience is an important issue that continues to be the ministry's concern, he explained.

The pre-marriage guidance, counseling, and health examination process is also a part of the ministry's work program, the vice minister affirmed.

The Binwin program is targeting couples who have registered for marriage and people of marriageable age (19–25 years), he informed.

"We are ready to collaborate to prevent early stunting. We have a network of 5,901 district KUAs (Religious Affairs Office) who are collaborating with the BKKBN (National Population and Family Planning Agency)," Sa'adi informed.

"Of course, we will promptly synergize this program so that its execution can align with the target," he added.

The ministry has periodically conducted evaluation and improvement of pre-marriage guidance, he informed. There are three steps that the ministry has carried out to bolster pre-marriage guidance, he said.

First, it has improved facilitator capacity by edifying Binwin facilitators equally in all provinces, he informed. Second, it is expanding collaboration for conducting Binwin, he said.

"Currently, the number of marriages has reached 1.9 to 2 million couples per year. This figure (all these couples) have not yet fully received Binwin's service from KUAs," Sa'adi highlighted.

"To this end, we will continue to develop collaboration with Islamic organizations, universities, and other institutions," he elaborated.

The third step concerns the fulfillment of KUA infrastructure through the KUA revitalization program, which is the ministry's priority program, Sa'adi said.

This year, 106 KUAs have been revamped, he informed. From next year, the ministry is aiming to revitalize one thousand KUAs each year, he said.

"We welcome the unveiling of guidance, counseling, and health examination program within three months of pre-marriage. We are ready to continue to synergize for a better future generation," Sa'adi affirmed//ANT