The IKEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Swedish home furnishing major, has partnered with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Xyntéo and India Development Foundation (IDF) to provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to one million underprivileged women across India.
The three-year programme, with a budget of Euro 16 million (around Rs 117.76 crore), will focus on Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telengana and the National Capital Region.
The programme will be implemented by the UNDP, Xyntéo and IDF.
We believe that women can be the most important catalysts for change in their children’s lives as well as in society more generally. By empowering women, we can improve children’s health, education and future – and that’s good for everyone in India.
— Per Heggenes, CEO, IKEA Foundation
The objective of the programme is to create a positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of women through training, employment and entrepreneurial skills development. The IKEA Foundation will test and establish an innovative model of a public-private partnership that responds to the aspirations and needs of women, and identified needs of the private sector. Eventually, the aim is to establish a continuum that connects education to skills, jobs and growth.
The programme will address the demand and supply side of women’s employment. They will secure commitments from businesses in identifying employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women; mobilising women to participate in skills and training courses; and supporting the development of training curricula relevant to the aspirations of women and business needs.
IKEA has been sourcing products from India for 28 years, and plans to open 25 stores across the country by 2017.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)