Women are the most important catalysts for change for their children. Children whose mothers have no education are more likely to die before their first birthday, to be undernourished, and not go to school. That’s why we fund programmes to help women and girls get a quality education and learn marketable skills to increase their family income.
The IKEA Foundation supports programmes that help women gain knowledge about children’s rights and the importance of education – because when they do, women have the power to influence the whole community. In addition, funding goes to programmes that give women a better chance to contribute to the family income – by learning a marketable skill or getting a micro loan to start a small business – helps ensure that children can stay in school instead of dropping out to help feed their family.
Through our annual Soft Toys for Education campaign, we also help fund UNICEF's Schools for Africa programme and Save the Children’s educational projects in Asia and Eastern Europe.