Lives for refugees get brighter, thanks to IKEA Foundation and UNHCR
The IKEA Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign returned to raise millions of euros for refugees
For every LED light bulb purchased in IKEA stores in February and March 2015, the IKEA Foundation will donate €1 to help UNHCR light refugee camps—making them a safer, more suitable place for the many families who live there.
How the campaign helps refugees
Today there are almost 13 million refugees under UNHCR’s care, half of whom are children. For those refugees living in camps, all livelihood, social and educational activities usually stop after sundown, because refugee camps can be extremely dark places. Thanks to the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign, many now have lighting and energy solutions.
Part of the funds from last year’s campaign have been used to help over 11,000 Syrian refugees living in Azraq refugee camp, Jordan, by providing families with a solar-powered lantern, which can be used for mobile-phone charging and as a light source so families can carry on with their everyday activities. Solar lanterns allow girls and boys to study after dark, helping them with their education and progress in school. Lanterns and solar street lights mean that adults can continue working and communities can have social gatherings after sunset.
The Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign launched for the first time in 2014, with IKEA co-workers and customers helping raise a remarkable €7.7 million (KRW 11.8 billion).
This year, the IKEA Foundation hopes the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign will raise even more money so they can help thousands more refugees lead a better everyday life.
About IKEA Korea
IKEA Korea, owned and operated by the INGKA Group under franchise agreements with the Inter IKEA Systems B.V., entered the Korean market in 2014 with the opening of IKEA Gwangmyeong. Since then, IKEA Korea has opened three additional stores—IKEA Goyang, Giheung and DongBusan—as well as its e-commerce channel. Based on the IKEA vision ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’, IKEA aims to enable and inspire the many people to love their homes through home furnishing, and is accelerating its steps to create a new IKEA that is more affordable, convenient and people and planet positive. Before each store opening, IKEA conducts a wide range of research and home visits to understand people’s life at home in each respective area. As a humanistic company, IKEA also aims to become a great place to work for its co-workers while creating a positive impact in the local community. More information can be found at www.ikea.com.