MBG PROGRAMS

Free Nutritious Meal Program in Indonesia: Fulfilling the Rights of Children and Women to Nutritious Food and Advancing People’s Economic Empowerment.

By.
MYR Agung Sidayu
Special consultative status in ECOSOC
United Nations since 2013

Submission to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights #OHCHR

In response to the call for inputs on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, with a special focus on the mobilization of public resources to finance sustainable development consistent with States’ human rights obligations

(Human Rights Council resolution 58/9)

1. Introduction.

Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program (Program Makan Bergizi Gratis – #MBG) represents one of the most ambitious efforts in recent years by a developing country to mobilize significant public resources for the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR). Launched in January 2025 and managed by the National Nutrition Agency (Badan Gizi Nasional – #BGN), the program provides free nutritious meals primarily to school-age children, toddlers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.

By late September 2026, the program had reached approximately 57 million beneficiaries through more than 27,000 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG), with budget realization of around IDR 153.2 trillion. The program directly advances the right to adequate food (Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – #ICESCR), the right to health, the right to education, and the principle of non-discrimination, while generating local economic opportunities.

This submission highlights MBG as a promising practice in using maximum available public resources for ESCR. At the same time, it stresses that continuous strengthening of managerial systems, transparency, targeting accuracy, food safety, and institutional accountability is essential. Without sustained institutional reforms, the program risks remaining a temporary political initiative rather than a durable instrument of rights-based development.

2. MBG as a Promising Practice in Mobilizing Public Resources for ESCR.

MBG illustrates how large-scale public expenditure can be directed toward fulfilling core ESCR obligations:

• Right to adequate food and nutrition: Meals are designed to improve dietary quality, particularly among children and women of reproductive age—groups historically facing higher risks of malnutrition and stunting.
• Non-discrimination and equality: The program targets vulnerable populations, with recent efforts to expand coverage in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions and high-stunting areas.
• Maximum available resources: Significant domestic public funding has been allocated, reflecting prioritization of social spending within the national budget. Approximately 70 percent of operational funds are used for food procurement, supporting local agricultural producers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• People’s economic empowerment: The program creates demand for local food products and generates employment. Reports indicate involvement of over one million workers and volunteers in SPPG operations, alongside tens of thousands of local suppliers, cooperatives, and village-owned enterprises. This contributes to household income diversification and reduces family food expenditure burdens.

These features align with the obligation under Article 2(1) of the ICESCR to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, to the maximum of available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of ESCR.

3. Impacts on Different Population Groups.

Available data and observations indicate mixed but promising impacts:

• Children: Improved access to regular nutritious meals supports school attendance, concentration, and long-term human capital development. Some surveys note increased fruit consumption among beneficiaries.
• Women and girls: Inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women addresses critical windows for maternal and child nutrition, contributing to intergenerational equity.
• Rural and marginalized communities: Expansion of SPPG in 3T areas aims to reduce spatial inequalities in access to nutritious food.
• Local economies: Procurement from local farmers, fishers, and MSMEs stimulates rural economic activity and supports livelihoods of peasants and persons working in rural areas.

However, independent assessments, including those by the National Commission on Human Rights (#KomnasHAM) note that benefits have not always been equitably distributed. Coverage of the most vulnerable (particularly toddlers and pregnant women in high-stunting areas) has sometimes lagged behind school-based distribution, and food safety incidents have undermined the right to health.

4. Budgetary and Fiscal Decision-Making Processes

MBG is financed primarily through the national budget (#APBN). Allocation decisions involve the Ministry of Finance, BGN, and parliamentary oversight. Recent adjustments—such as requiring hygiene and sanitation certificates (SLHS) for #SPPG, closing non-compliant units, refining beneficiary targeting, and modifying incentive structures—demonstrate adaptive fiscal management aimed at improving efficiency and accountability.

Nevertheless, mechanisms for systematic rights-based impact assessment remain underdeveloped. Greater integration of ESCR indicators into budget formulation, execution, and monitoring—at both national and local levels—would strengthen compliance with human rights obligations. Participatory processes involving rights-holders, civil society, and affected communities in budget decisions related to nutrition programs are still limited and require institutionalization.

5. Transparency, Participation, and Accountability

Progress has been made through public reporting of budget realization and beneficiary numbers, as well as corrective actions such as kitchen closures for non-compliance. However, challenges persist in full transparency of procurement processes, real-time data accessibility, and meaningful participation of civil society and local communities throughout the cycle of planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Strengthening independent oversight, grievance mechanisms (especially for food safety incidents), and protection of workers’ rights in SPPG operations is essential to uphold accountability.

6. Main Challenges and the Imperative of Continuous Managerial Improvement.

The primary challenges include:

• Ensuring consistent food safety and nutritional quality across a vast archipelago.
• Accurate targeting of the most vulnerable groups rather than relying predominantly on administrative readiness of schools.
• Mitigating risks of mismanagement, inefficiency, and potential corruption in large-scale procurement and kitchen operations.
• Building resilient local supply chains that genuinely empower small producers and women entrepreneurs.
• Establishing robust data systems for monitoring impacts on different population groups and enabling evidence-based adjustments.

These challenges underscore a critical point: managerial and institutional patterns must be continuously strengthened. Without sustained investment in governance systems—clear regulations, decentralized yet coordinated implementation, independent monitoring, capacity building at local levels, and institutionalized participation—the program risks becoming a temporary political program whose benefits dissipate with changes in administration or fiscal priorities.

A rights-based approach requires that MBG evolve from a flagship initiative into a permanent, institutionalized component of Indonesia’s social protection and human development architecture. This includes:

• Anchoring the program in legislation that guarantees continuity beyond electoral cycles.
• Prioritizing the first 1,000 days of life and the most vulnerable groups while maintaining broader coverage.
• Embedding human rights impact assessments in all stages of the budget cycle.
• Strengthening multi-stakeholder accountability mechanisms involving national human rights institutions, civil society, academia, and rights-holders.
• Ensuring that efficiency measures never compromise the quality, safety, or adequacy of meals.

7. Conclusion and Recommendations.

Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program demonstrates the potential of mobilizing substantial public resources to advance the rights of children and women to nutritious food while fostering people’s economic empowerment. Its scale and ambition offer valuable lessons for other States seeking to realize ESCR through domestic resource mobilization.

For this potential to be fully realized in a manner consistent with human rights obligations, continuous improvement of managerial systems is non-negotiable. The program must be protected from becoming a temporary political instrument. Institutionalization, transparency, participation, accountability, and a steadfast focus on the most vulnerable are essential to ensure that every public resource expended contributes sustainably to the dignity, health, and opportunities of present and future generations.

We encourage the Secretary-General’s report to highlight both the promising practices and the governance challenges illustrated by large-scale nutrition programs such as MBG, and to recommend that States treat such initiatives as long-term human rights investments rather than short-term political projects.