IKEA Korea and Korea Foundation for Women hold donation ceremony for “Mom-Up Project”

“Mom-Up Project”, which celebrates its second year after its launch in 2017, was designed to support social independence of unwed single moms and provide opportunities to their children for sustainable growth in a safer, happier environment. It has supported about 30 unwed single moms and their families with opportunities to participate in various programs to improve self-confidence, their homes and children’s study rooms over the past year. According to a survey conducted by KFW on the participants from last year’s project, 96.4% of respondents answered that they were satisfied with the program. The participants also expressed that the project had contributed to raising their self-confidence as individuals and as single parents through the improved homes, which had provided the foundation for their children to grow emotionally and physically in more stable, safe space.

This year, the “Mom-Up Project” will support about 34 unwed single moms and their families living in Seoul and the Gyeonggi province. It will offer regular self-help meetings for building a social network and safety net amongst the single mom families, improve their living environments (children’s study room), and participate in home furnishing workshops that will provide home furnishing solutions personalised to meet the specific needs of the moms’ and their children. The program will also offer information on career opportunities at IKEA Korea to help the single moms to achieve economic independence. All unwed single moms who live in Seoul and Gyeonggi province are eligible to apply for participation until October 10. More information can be found on the official website of KFW at www.womenfund.or.kr.

André Schmidtgall, Country Retail Manager at IKEA Korea, said, “We are delighted to have contributed to making a positive impact on the lives of single moms, helping them regain their confidence and become socially independent to raise healthy children,” adding, “We will continue to support the many single moms in Korea to live a more sustainable, happy life.”

Hye-Kyung Lee, Chairperson of KFW, said, “This project is aimed at supporting unwed single moms who raise their children in a socially and economically isolated environment, enabling them to become healthy and functional members in the society.”

IKEA Korea, under its vision “to create a better everyday life for the many people”, offers a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. As a responsible and humanistic company, IKEA is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion to create happier, equal lives of the many people in a rapidly-changing world with an ever-increasing level of inequality.

KFW was established in 1999 with the aim to achieve an equal and harmonious life for all women. To this end, it supports public volunteer activities to achieve a gender equal society in all sectors and foster environment which is based on sharing value and caring community to raise hope for women who are struggling social and economic disadvantages.