Currently, the IKEA Foundation is the single largest private donor to the United Nations ever.
There are an estimated 3.5 million refugees worldwide living in tents, in some of the harshest climates the globe has to offer. But the Ikea Foundation, the furniture maker’s philanthropic arm, along with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have been working for the last three years to change that. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the new shelters are scheduled to be tested in the Dollo Ado refugee camp in southeastern Ethiopia beginning next month. Olivier Delarue, UNHCR’s senior adviser on private sector partnerships, explained that they chose the Dollo Ado camp in part because of the harsh conditions in that part of Africa. He said, “It is critical to set the units in a harsh environment to have feedback on their technical resistance. And also [to] have refugees’ views on the cultural suitability of the units.”
The field-testing phase of the initiative is expected to take between 4 and 6 months, “during which time adjustments will be made before the shelter goes into production. Until then, it won’t be known whether the shelter will be suitable for the needs of those living in camps.” The shelters are also being tested in refugee camps in both Lebanon and Iraq as well.
The Monitor reports:
Just like the coffee table or nightstand sitting in your home, the IKEA shelter is flat-packed, requires no tools to assemble, and can be taken apart and rebuilt again elsewhere. Instead of canvas flaps, the shelter is made up of hard panels, which stand up better against harsher climactic conditions and offer more privacy … Each of the IKEA shelters is designed to house one family. The shelters employ technologies to keep the interior cool by day and warm at night; a solar panel on each provides electricity.
If the shelters work, the design will be made available by IKEA to other companies for commercial production, while the swelling numbers of refugees from conflicts like those in Syria will have a more humane place to call home.
Although the shelters are currently more costly than the “typical refugee housing,” if enough can be produced the cost will decrease to just above the current price of tents. They are also expected to last at least 6 times longer than tents, significantly lowering the cost of replacements for the camps.
Photo: UN Refugee Agency
