The IKEA Foundation. The IKEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the global home furnishings company, believes that every child has a right to a safe place to call home, but millions have been forced by war and persecution to flee their homes - with or without their families.
The Foundation works with partners around the world to improve opportunities for such children in some of the world's most vulnerable communities, funding long-term programmes that can create lasting change. As UNHCR's largest corporate partner, it helps provide shelter, care, education and energy to refugee and host communities. Since 2010, it has committed more than US$166 million in cash and in-kind donations to UNHCR's programmes. Through cash grants, in-kind assistance for emergency operations, and the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign, the IKEA Foundation is helping hundreds of thousands of refugee children and their families rebuild their lives. How Ikea's partnership with the UN is helping child refugees. It started with a tent.
In 2009 the IKEA Foundation – the philanthropic arm of Ikea – partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with the idea of designing a new tent for emergency refugee accommodation. Given the foundation's core aim to improve opportunities for children in developing countries, and that half of all refugees are children, it seemed a good fit. Not just that, but designing flat-packed home and furniture solutions was something that Ikea knew it could do well.
At any given time, UNHCR has the capacity to respond to an emergency involving up to 600,000 people, within 72 hours. Currently, the tents it provides are only suitable for six months. "Because Ikea's core competence is about improving homes we thought it would be a very interesting way to co-operate," says Olivier Delarue, the UNHCR's senior advisor on private sector partnerships. A knowledge partnership However, collaborating over tents soon led to a much broader remit.
Better Shelter. Thousands of refugee children will soon have safer homes. March 24, 2015 Thanks to the IKEA Foundation, thousands of refugee families will soon receive a safer, more durable shelter.
Launching today at the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition (DIHAD), the flat pack Better Shelter will be unveiled and available for purchase for the first time. For several years, the IKEA Foundation, UNHCR and a group of Swedish designers have worked together to develop a new kind of temporary shelter that will provide refugees with safety, dignity and a better place to call home. Now the shelter is ready to be used in refugee camps, and UNHCR has made a frame agreement to buy 10,000 of them from the social enterprise BetterShelter.org, which is developing and manufacturing them. Democratic design for humanitarian benefit The Better Shelter is a temporary shelter with an expected lifespan of three years. IKEA partners with the UN to produce more innovative and durable refugee shelters. A few years ago, the IKEA Foundation struck up a partnership with an unlikely ally: the United Nations.
However, it quickly became apparent that the furniture designer and retailer could bring something valuable to the UN — the company's experience with flat-packed home furniture made it a good choice to help the UN redesign and update its refugee shelters. The older tent-style shelters used in refugee camps around the world aren't well insulated and could have a lifespan as short as six months thanks to the impact of sun, rain, and wind.
But many refugees need to live in them for several years or longer; this need led IKEA to design a refugee shelter that's flat-packed like its furniture and uses a more modular building approach, making it easier to set up. These new shelters use a metal framework and lightweight but durable panels that IKEA says can last up to three years and better insulation. Theverge. Ikea's line of flat-pack refugee shelters are going into production, the Swedish furniture maker announced this week, after being tested among refugee families in Ethiopia, Iraq, and Lebanon.
The lightweight "Better Shelter" was developed under a partnership between the Ikea Foundation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Each unit takes about four hours to assemble and is designed to last for three years — far longer than conventional refugee shelters, which last about six months. That's important considering the prolonged refugee crisis that has unfolded across the Middle East. The ongoing war in Syria has spurred nearly 4 million people to leave their homes, according to UN figures, and as the conflict enters it's fifth year, there's still no end in sight. Many have sought refuge in neighboring countries, while others have tried to cross into Europe.
Production of the Better Shelter is scheduled to begin soon. IKEA Foundation.