World Refugee Day 2020 - IKEA Foundation

Together with refugees

When you think about basic human needs, you probably think about food, water, sanitation, shelter. But after years working with refugees in crisis zones around the world, I’ve come to believe connectivity is every bit as much a part of that package. So much so, that when people arrive at a displaced persons camp, as much as they want food or water, they want a place to charge their phones.

— Hovig Etyemezian, Head of UNHCR Innovation Service

IKEA Retail (Ingka Group), Inter IKEA Group and the IKEA Foundation have each made different commitments that will help people who have been forced to flee their homes to become part of their host communities. We believe that refugees bring skills and experience that are valuable to business and society.

The IKEA Foundation has been funding programmes for refugees since 2010. We are committing €100 million more in grants over the next five years to programmes that help both refugees and their host communities improve their incomes and become more self-reliant.

Ingka Group plans to support 2,500 refugees through job training and language skills initiatives in 300 stores and units in 30 countries.

Inter IKEA Group will enable 400 women to earn a sustainable living through its partnership with Jordan River Foundation.

This is one example of how business, foundations, civil society and international organisations can together transform international solidarity into concrete actions and improve our global response to help the world’s 25.9 million refugees.

Join our Ask an Expert Q&A session on what (almost) everybody gets wrong about refugees with Ola Rosling, President & Co-Founder of Gapminder Foundation and Alexander Betts, Professor and Director of the Refugee Studies Centre on Thursday 25 June at 3pm CET, hosted by Per Heggenes, Chief Executive Officer at the IKEA Foundation.

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