Expanding its work significantly, the IKEA Foundation announces €31 Million in funding for USA and UK based nonprofits helping children in developing countries.

In a first, the IKEA Foundation is announcing a series of grants for nonprofits based in the United States and the United Kingdom. The IKEA Foundation is the charitable arm of INGKA foundation, the owner of IKEA Group, a home furnishings company with Swedish origins founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad.

“Our ambition at the IKEA Foundation is to help improve the lives of children and youth in the developing world. Our commitments so far will impact more than 100 million children,” explains Per Heggenes, CEO of the IKEA Foundation. “This is a huge challenge, and we are confident that our new programme partners in the US and England will help us achieve this vision.”

In 2012, seven grants will go to six different organizations in the US and UK:

• Clinton Health Access Initiative (USA), €11,685,023. to combat children’s diarrhea in India.

• Clinton Health Access Initiative, €8,079,208. to combat children’s diarrhea in Kenya.

• Mentor International (UK), €400,000. for prevention of substance abuse and the promotion of the health and well being of young people in developing countries.

• Keystone Accountability (UK) €100,000. for the Ground Truth initiative to develop an evaluation tool to improve aid performance and better humanitarian outcomes.

• Fight For Peace (UK) €1,545,929. for an initiative to train 128 community based organizations in cities around the world to use sport to rescue boys from urban violence.

• The Earth Institute (USA) €1,922,633. to conduct a demonstration project that aims to improve the quality of primary education in India.

• NOTE: An additional €7,000,000 commitment to a US-based nonprofit will be made public at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative in Manhattan.

Source: IKEA Foundation