Ikea builds smart shelters for refugees with UN

The Swedish furniture giant IKEA has rolled up its sleeves to help Syrian refugees around the world through its "smarter shelters." The company's humanitarian arm, the IKEA Foundation, has started to send 2,500 smart shelters to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) each month. The smart shelters were designed by Johan Karlsson, the head of Business Development at IKEA's Better Shelter project. Costing about 1,000 euros, the shelters are distributed to refugee camps in different countries. As stated on the project website, temporary shelters are designed with special attention to transport volume, weight, price, safety as well as health and comfort. "It can be assembled on site without additional tools and equipment, and is fitted with a solar panel and lamp to provide light during the dark hours. The expected lifespan of the shelter is three years," the website says. Better Shelter was started by the Housing for All Foundation, a non-profit foundation established by the IKEA Foundation. Each measuring 18 square meters, the shelters were previously tried out in refugee camps in Iraq and Ethiopia. Since this summer, the shelters have been sent to the refugee camps in the Middle East and North Africa.