The IKEA Group and UNICEF are long-term partners working together at the international and local level. During the past 20 years, IKEA has supported UNICEF programs benefiting children and their opportunities for learning and developing in Asia, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe.
Improving children's rights in India The IKEA Social Initiative supports a project, run by UNICEF, promoting child rights in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, from where IKEA sources many of its carpets. The aim is to prevent and eliminate child labor in the carpet belt by addressing root causes such as debt, poverty, lack of access to education, disability and ill health. Read more about child labor Read more about children's rights project
Preventing child labor in cotton-seed farming The IKEA Social Initiative supports a UNICEF project aimed at preventing girls from working on cotton-seed farms in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The project initially covers 104 villages, with 63,000 children expected to benefit from the project's focus areas. The project helps children gain access to quality education, empowering girls' collectives to influence their communities, and raises awareness of child labour among NGOs, employers and local government. In addition, 70 government schools are being helped to ensure improvements to the quality of education they offer.
1 dollar is a fortune Since 2003 IKEA has been making donations from the sale of teddy bears and soft toys to children’s projects all over the world. For a number of weeks every year IKEA donates 1 dollar for every soft toy sold – a total of millions of dollars – to projects run by UNICEF and Save the Children. Read more
In-kind donations and emergency relief aid In emergency situations or situations of need, the IKEA Social Initiative helps UNICEF with in-kind donations and aid, such as donations of IKEA products. For example, after the 2004 tsunami, IKEA Social Initiative donated bed sheets, quilts, blankets, mattresses and toys to Indonesian, Sri Lankan and Indian victims, and after the Pakistan earthquake in 2006, the IKEA Social Initiative donated 335,000 quilts to earthquake-affected families.
