Ikea gives UN $62m to aid Somalian refugees

Furniture giant Ikea has made the largest donation the UN refugee agency has ever received to build a refugee complex for Somalian victims of war and drought.

The company has given the UN High Commissioner for Refugees $62m to provide relief to 120,000 people living in the world’s largest refugee camp at Dadaab in Kenya, which is home to around half a million people.

The money, to be phased over three years, makes Ikea the second largest donor, after the US government, to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, where millions are at risk of death from famine.

Thousands have already died. The high commissioner himself, António Guterres, said the assistance didn’t “come a moment too soon”.

Ikea Foundation chief executive Per Heggenes said: “This initiative is a bold but natural extension of Ikea Foundation’s long-standing commitment to making a better everyday life for children and families in need throughout the developing world.

“Supporting UNHCR is one of the most effective ways to immediately make a difference in the lives of thousands of refugee children and their families.”