Ikea and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees teamed up to create a solar-powered, flat-pack refugee tent last year, and they aren't slowing down on their joint efforts to improve conditions inside these refugee camps.

Their latest campaign: For every LED light bulb Ikea sells over the next two months, the Ikea Foundation, the Swedish furniture giant's charitable arm, will donate one euro towards providing solar streetlights, indoor solar lanterns, and clean fuel cooking stoves for refugees.



The lack of light creates an environment of fear in refugee camps. Peter Kessler, a UNHCR spokesman stationed with more than half a million Syrian refugees in Jordan, says this is especially true for women who worry about gender violence. Women are afraid to go to the bathrooms at night, and the bigger the camp, the greater their vulnerability.

No light also means the refugees can't do much after dark. "Imagine if at the end of the evening, you go home to the Middle Ages, where you have no light," Kessler says. "At best you have some candles, but they get blown out. That’s what it’s like to go into a refugee situation. You’re really dropping back into a different era."



Ikea's initiative with the UNHCR's Innovation Unit builds on four years of partnership. "We like to do a bit more than just give money," says Jonathan Spampinato, the Ikea Foundation's director of communication and strategy.

It seems like Ikea's venture into "refugee furniture" won't be going away any time soon, because according to Spampinato, the UNHCR Innovation lab and Ikea now meet roughly twice a year to run through priorities and urgent needs.

"Right now we do have innovative projects like the Ikea lighting project, but what happens in a year or two when people are focused on another part of the world that's particularly needy, and the 2.4 million refugees from Syria don't have access to kerosene?" he asks. "This is the uncertainty that weighs heavily on people."