IKEA renews partnership with UNICEF to further boost children's rights in business

Inter IKEA Group is proud to announce the launch of the next phase of its strategic partnership with UNICEF, reaffirming their shared commitment to placing children’s rights at the core of responsible business practices. Building on the experience and achievements of earlier work, this renewed collaboration aims to further integrate child rights into global business operations and inspire meaningful change across industries.

At IKEA, we believe children are the most important people in the world. They are also key stakeholders in our business as family members of co-workers, as users of our products, and as future co-workers and leaders. IKEA is committed to respecting and promoting human rights, including children’s rights, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the Children’s Rights and Business Principles.

IKEA and UNICEF joined forces in September 2023, focusing on three key areas: family-friendly policies, children’s rights in a digital world, and Just Transition. Through the partnership UNICEF has developed knowledge products, tools and guidance with insight and support from IKEA.

Building on the groundwork from the first two years of the collaboration, IKEA and UNICEF will continue their work in these areas while expanding the partnership to include climate adaptation and play. The focus will shift from development to implementation, to help businesses embed children’s rights into their operations.

“This partnership is important for IKEA because it strengthens how we make responsible business decisions and shape the future of our business and the communities we touch. By bringing a child-rights perspective into our operations, we strengthen how we support families, protect those most at risk, and grow responsibly. Through our collaboration with UNICEF, we also want to raise awareness and inspire more businesses to put children’s rights at the heart of their actions,” says Lena Julle, Chief Sustainability Officer, Inter IKEA Group.

Family-friendly policies and practices are essential for supporting employees’ work–life balance, satisfaction, and retention, and play a vital role in advancing children’s rights. As part of the first phase of the partnership, UNICEF developed a Toolkit to help businesses build family-friendly workplaces and practices that support families and children to thrive and help companies unlock their employees’ full potential, while contributing to healthier societies and stronger economies.

The partners will now focus on increasing awareness of the toolkit and developing communication materials and adaptable capacity-building modules for diverse workplace settings.

In the digital space, UNICEF has developed a comprehensive toolkit offering practical guidance for businesses to adopt child rights-based approaches in digital marketing. This next phase will turn from toolkit development to implementation, seeking to advance child rights due diligence in the digital marketing ecosystem.

On the topic of Just Transition, the first part of the partnership led to in-depth research and an advocacy brief on children’s rights and just transition, which will be launched at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in November 2025. The brief highlights the role of businesses in ensuring climate transitions are equitable and child sensitive.

“Our partnership with Inter IKEA Group is turning commitment into action by ensuring that children are placed firmly at the heart of global core business practices and sustainability strategies. From creating workplaces where families can thrive to shaping responsible digital marketing practices to climate adaptation solutions, together we can build a more sustainable future in which the rights of children are realised,” said UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Carla Haddad Mardini.

Looking ahead, the partnership will pilot a country-level accelerator to explore how businesses can strengthen climate adaptation and resilience for children and communities, further aligning business success with children’s well-being.

At IKEA, we are committed to advancing children’s rights across our business. We recognise that meaningful change requires collaboration, which is why we partner with experts like UNICEF to learn more, do more, and share more. Together, we aim to inspire broader inclusion of children’s rights in everyday business practices.