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UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children Fund, is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. |
UNICEF’s partnership with IKEA began more than ten years ago with UNICEF supporting IKEA to develop the company’s child labour code of conduct. That code, “The IKEA Way on Preventing Child Labour”, describes the specific demands IKEA places on suppliers and sub-contractors to prevent child labour. Based on national law, relevant ILO conventions, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the code clearly states that all actions must always be in the best interests of the child.
The first programme we funded was a Child Rights Project in the state of Uttar Pradesh (the carpet belt) in India. The project ran from 2000 to 2007 and resulted in 80,000 children getting access to quality education and 22,000 women joining self-help groups.
The IKEA Foundation has also invested in UNICEF’s work to prevent child labour in India’s cotton and cottonseed farming areas. It’s estimated that 28 million children are involved in child labour in India, of which two thirds are estimated to work in the agricultural sector. Since IKEA is a large buyer of textiles in the area, the IKEA Foundation is committed to go beyond the reach of the company’s efforts to secure good working conditions in its supply chain. The aim of these efforts is to address the root causes of child labour and thus prevent and eliminate child labour in the cotton and cottonseed growing in several Indian states.
In another major effort for the partnership, IKEA and UNICEF have worked together on the annual soft toys campaign since it began in 2003. Every time a customer buys a soft toy at an IKEA store, IKEA donates one euro to help educate children. In the beginning, it was just the BRUM teddy bear. During the 2010 campaign, for a week, the whole range at Children’s IKEA was involved. Through the annual soft toys campaign IKEA hopes to inform and engage 626 million IKEA store visitors and 127,000 co-workers about every child’s right to a quality education.
Rabia is happy about her IKEA Sunnan lamp
"I have decided to stay in school till the completion of my studies.”
Soft toys fund projects in Central and Eastern Europe
"Anna in Moldova says “I have learned that I have the right to express my opinion, to be heard.”
