Who: IKEA Foundation and UNHCR 

Objective: With 59.5m people around the world displaced due to conflict, persecution and natural disasters, and 19.5m refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, there is a huge need for safe and functional temporary shelters.
Developing countries currently host over 86% of the world’s refugees, compared to 70% in 2005, and refugee camps are usually overcrowded and under-resourced. To tackle this problem, IKEA Foundation, the charitable arm of the world’s largest furniture retailer, partnered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to create and provide suitable shelters for thousands of refugees.

Strategy: Better Shelter was started by the Housing for All Foundation, a non-profit foundation established by the IKEA Foundation. The design of the Better Shelter benefits from the input of both the IKEA Foundation and the UNHCR. It arrives in a flat-pack format, as is IKEA’s speciality, and has been designed according to the UNHCR’s recommendations so that it incorporates a solar energy system and materials that conserve heat and keep out the cold.

Rationale: Johan Karlsson, head of business development at Better Shelter, says, “Better Shelter will ship 10,000 units to UNHCR in 2015 for use by UNHCR operations globally – and that is just the beginning. We will continue to develop the Better Shelter and also provide other solutions to benefit the many displaced people. Innovation is our strongest driving force.” While the shelters cannot replace people’s homes, they do offer a more dignified shelter for displaced people and are a cost-effective solution for humanitarian organisations.