In 2005, IKEA initiated a pilot project in which approximately 2,000 women took part. They embroidered cushion covers, IKEA PS GRINDTORP, which are sold in IKEA stores. The women had previously been part of self-help groups during the IKEA and UNICEF partnership to prevent child labour in 500 villages in northern India from 2000- 2007. They were also trained in children’s rights, health and nutrition.

The mission of the IKEA Social Initiative is to improve the rights and life opportunities of the many children – creating substantial and lasting change. This is why IKEA Social Initiative works together with UNICEF and Save the Children on various projects to give children a better start in life.

We expect more than 80 million children and 10 million women to benefit from a variety of health and nutrition programs. We´re also supporting programs that empower women. For example, 50,000 women in 500 villages of India’s ‘carpet belt’ of Uttar Pradesh are on their way to becoming entrepreneurs, contributing substantially to their household incomes, and participating in their local political process.

Helping women become independent lets their little ones concentrate on school and just being children – while learning from their mothers’ example of how to create a better everyday life.

From 2009-2013, IKEA is in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on the Women’s empowerment program in ‘the carpet belt’ in India. This project will enhance the social, economic and political empowerment of women in 500 villages in Uttar Pradesh, India where the IKEA Social Initiative and UNICEF have been present since 2000. At least 50,000 women will be encouraged to become entrepreneurs, contribute substantially to their household income, strengthen legal awareness and participate in local political decision making processes.

IKEA PS GULLSPIRA is one of three different wall decorations with masks depicting characters from Scandinavian fairy tales. They are made by Indian village women entrepreneurs, with a hand-stitched quilting technique using wool and cotton. Each wall decoration is a one-off piece, with the Hindi name of its maker embroidered on the back. The initiative builds on joint IKEA and UNICEF project, started in 2000. The project has helped to economically and socially empower more than 20,000 women through self-help groups, as part of a broad program to prevent and eliminate child labour in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.