IKEA Brighter Lives for Refugees Campaign

IKEA has long been a part of our family. We shop there, we eat there and now we support their efforts to help people worldwide. If you look around our home, you will find pieces from IKEA everywhere. I have some pictures and other decorative accents as well as furniture.

I have to admit that I had no idea how much good IKEA was doing which now makes me want to shop there even more.

IKEA is a leader in sustainable business practices. In October 2012, IKEA US announced it would make a bold move to sell only LED lights in all its US stores by 2016.
Already well on its way, the IKEA sale of only LED lights and lamps will and has enabled millions of people to live a more sustainable life at home, and save on their energy bills.

IKEA also phased out all plastic bags in its stores in 2007 and incandescent bulbs in 2010. LED lights last up to 20 years and consumes up to 85% less energy than traditional bulbs, saving one money. LED lights provide an even warm white light. They light up immediately, are not hot, contain no mercury and can be recycled.

ABOUT THE BRIGHTER LIVES FOR REFUGEES CAMPAIGN

The Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign runs February 3 – March 29, 2014. The global IKEA store initiative includes a donation of one euro ($1.37)* to the UN refugee agency UNHCR for every IKEA LEDARE – LED light bulb sold.

Campaign funds will help to provide solar street lights, indoor solar lanterns, and other renewable energy technologies such as fuel efficient cooking stoves in UNHCR refugee camps in countries including Ethiopia, Chad, Bangladesh and Jordan. In addition the campaign will also fund improved primary education.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE LIGHT CAN MAKE

The absence or lack of light after sunset can have a devastating effect on safety and security for those living in refugee camps. Simple activities such as visiting the toilet, collecting water or returning to the shelter from elsewhere can become difficult and dangerous, particularly for women and girls.

The improvements funded by the campaign will make each refugee camp a safer and more suitable home for refugee children and their families. Solar lanterns are helping these refugee camps in several ways:

• Solar street lights can improve safety in refugee camps by reducing the risk of crime, sexual and gender-based violence.
• Solar lanterns help girls and boys in refugee camps study after dark, improving results in school.
• Solar street lights help improve life in a refugee camp, enabling more community gatherings and social activities.
• Solar lanterns allow refugees to continue important income-generating activities such as weaving or sewing during the dark hours.
• Solar lanterns enable refugees to run their small shops and kiosks into the evening, increasing prospects of generating a sustainable income.

EXAMPLES OF THE BRIGHTER LIVES FOR REFUGEES CAMPAIGN*

Jordan

519,676 Refugees.** BLFR campaign helps UNHCR improve the supply of electricity to the many refugee camps being constructed to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war at home.

Sudan

126,218 Refugees.* BLFR campaign improves lighting in refugee camps by providing solar streetlights and lanterns, and funding improved children's education for Eritrean refugees living in Eastern Sudan.

Bangladesh

30,697 Refugees.* BLFR campaign provides Rohingy refugees fleeing Mynamar – one of the longest running refugee crises in the world – with much needed renewable energy, and education for children living in the camps.

Chad

373,695 Refugees.* BLFR campaign enables more than 100,000 refugee children in 18 camps to attend pre-primary, primary and secondary school, as well as supporting refugees living in the capital city of Ndjamena.

Ethiopia

376,393 Refugees.* BLFR campaign improves and expands existing lighting and renewable energy programs, as well as funding improved children's education for Somali refugees living in Ethiopian refugee camps.

*This is a sampling and does not include how campaign proceeds may benefit refugee camps in other countries than those listed above.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.