IKEA Foundation Supports UN Campaign for Equitable, Global COVID-19 Vaccine Access
11.3.2021 16:49:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Today, the IKEA Foundation announced its support for the United Nations' new "Only Together" campaign, which calls for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
"Scientists believe vaccination offers the best hope for the world to emerge from this pandemic, but only if everyone, everywhere has vaccine access. Unequitable distribution of vaccines risks further widening the inequality gap and endangering millions of lives," said Per Heggenes, IKEA Foundation CEO.
"Only Together" asks governments, businesses and philanthropies to support a global vaccine rollout that prioritises healthcare workers and ensures the poorest countries don't get left behind.
The pandemic is wreaking havoc on the world's most vulnerable communities. Over 130 million people sank below the poverty line in 2020, many of them from marginalised communities, according to UN data. Inequitable vaccine distribution could reverse decades of progress on poverty, healthcare and education.
"This isn't just an issue of morality -- it's an issue of global health," said Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. "Viruses don't respect borders. Leaving parts of the world unvaccinated could lead to even deadlier variants of COVID-19 emerging, prolonging the pandemic and delaying the global economy from recovering."
"Only Together" is part of the Verified initiative, launched in 2020 to counter disinformation on COVID-19. Verified is a collaboration between the UN and Purpose, a social mobilisation organisation. Supported by an IKEA Foundation grant, the campaign helps volunteer "digital first responders" and collaborators disseminate accurate COVID-19 information.
Through its partnership with Purpose, the IKEA Foundation aims to cement public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and rally funding for fair global vaccine distribution.
"Over the past year, we've all missed out on things we love. Millions of people have lost their loved ones and livelihoods to this deadly virus. Over the coming months, we have an opportunity to put the world on a path towards ending the pandemic, but only together can we ensure no one is left behind," said Jeremy Heimans, Purpose CEO.
About the IKEA Foundation
The IKEA Foundation is funded by INGKA Foundation, owner of the Ingka Group of companies. The IKEA Foundation is independent from the retail business with a sole focus on creating brighter lives on a liveable planet through philanthropy and grantmaking. www.ikeafoundation.org
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311005179/en/
Contact information
Radu Dumitrascu, radu.dumitrascu@ikeafoundation.org, +31 655 69 85 70
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Thales Secures Significant U.S. Army LOCODA Radio Order Following Rapid Development Push23.6.2026 20:42:00 EEST | Press release
Delivering capability at mission speed, Thales subsidiary, Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI), has secured an order for up to 5,000 Low Cost Data Architecture (LOCODA) Radio Adaptable Transport (RAT) platforms. The Thales RAT solution, which was conceived, developed and field-ready less than four months, modernizes voice and data communications and integrates effortlessly into radio mounts across all current and future U.S. Army vehicle platforms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623043996/en/ Thales Radio Adaptable Transport (c)Thales The LOCODA RAT platform provides soldiers with a reliable, adaptable communications capability they can depend on across any mission and environment. By reusing existing vehicle radio mounts and supporting a wide range of radios and mission modules, it reduces setup time and simplifies integration in the field. Soldiers gain secure, flexible voice and data connectivity tha
Epicor Prism Launches Across European Markets, Bringing Embedded, Industry-Specific AI to Manufacturers23.6.2026 18:55:00 EEST | Press release
Epicor has expanded its AI-driven ERP strategy in the UK and select European markets with the general availability of Epicor Prism, a portfolio of vertical AI agents designed specifically for the supply chain industries. Embedded directly in Epicor Kinetic, Epicor Prism gives customers conversational access to live ERP data and related documents without needing specialised analytics skills or separate AI tools. The launch reflects a broader shift in ERP from systems of record to systems of outcomes that help users interpret data, make decisions and take action in real time — a transformation Epicor calls Cognitive ERP. Responding to pressure on productivity and skills European manufacturers are under growing pressure to raise productivity, strengthen supply chain resilience and remain globally competitive despite workforce constraints and ongoing digital skills shortages. While many organisations continue to invest heavily in ERP, turning operational data into timely insight at the poi
Airship Appoints Laura Zwahlen as Chief Revenue Officer23.6.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Airship, the mobile-first customer experience company, today announced the appointment of Laura Zwahlen as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Zwahlen will oversee all global revenue-generating activities, driving the alignment, execution, and strategy across Airship’s sales, account management, and customer success teams to accelerate the company’s market leadership and customer impact. She will report directly to CEO Brett Caine. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623145620/en/ Laura Zwahlen, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Airship Zwahlen brings more than 20 years of go-to-market and revenue leadership experience, with a proven track record of guiding technology organizations through rapid growth, strategic acquisitions, and public offerings. Previously, she served as CRO at NextRoll (the parent company of AdRoll and AdRoll ABM) where she led global revenue teams and drove initiatives centered on sustainable growth
INRIX Data Reveals How the 2026 FIFA World Cup Is Reshaping Traffic Across 11 U.S. Cities23.6.2026 17:56:00 EEST | Press release
INRIX, a global leader in transportation data and analytics, today announced the launch of its 2026 FIFA World Cup Data Hub, providing transportation agencies, event organizers, media, and travelers with a comprehensive, real-time view of how the world’s largest sporting event is moving millions of people. The 2026 FIFA World Cup spans 16 cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, making it the most geographically diverse World Cup in history. With matches across 11 U.S. stadiums attracting millions of fans from around the world, transportation demands vary as widely as the cities themselves. INRIX is uniquely positioned to capture that complexity at scale with unprecedented speed, backed by a data infrastructure no other company can beat. Drawing on more than 300 million connected vehicles and devices, a 50-petabyte transportation data lake, and 44 billion data points generated daily, INRIX can analyze traffic conditions around any U.S. stadium within hours of a match. The c
IQM achieves milestone in quantum error correction, enabling fault-tolerant computing in the near-term23.6.2026 17:41:00 EEST | Press release
IQM Quantum Computers, the global leader in superconducting quantum computers, today announced a significant achievement in quantum error correction, using directional tile codes, marking a major step toward practical, large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623243333/en/ IQM achieves milestone in quantum error correction, enabling fault-tolerant computing in the near-term The research, available on arXiv, and co-authored by IQM researchers and collaborators at Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Edinburgh, and Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, introduces ‘directional tile codes’, a new family of quantum error-correcting codes that resolves one of the central tensions in quantum computing. As IQM prepares for its planned Nasdaq listing through a merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RAAQ), this research advances a core pillar of its technology ro
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom