NEW DELHI: The IKEA foundation, the philanthropic arm of global furniture brand IKEA, has pledged $ 40 million through the United National Development Program (UNDP) to help rural women in India The program is expected to reach 2.2 million poor women in India in 20,000 of some of the poorest villages of the country. The fund inflow will help boost UNDP's Swaayam program that helped empower rural women through social, economic, political and legal dimensions, that is already in force for two years now. The new grant will allow UNDP to reach an additional 2.2 million women from the earlier 50,000 that it was funding also with help from IKEA. The program's aim is to help the women improve their ability to become entrepreneurs and to create and own assets. “When I visited the project I was inspired by the women who are leading the change in these villages. It is a powerful reality that when women are empowered, so are their children, their families and their entire communities,” Per Heggenes CEO of IKEA Foundation said UNDP too has welcomed the funds and spoke highly of how the project is a step in the right direction. “Empowerment of women is a key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and bringing about transformational change and the India project is an excellent example of this strategy,” Patrice Coeur-Bizot, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator in India said. The program has also helped women become political leaders. Women who have formed in Self Help Groups under the program, came together to promote their candidates and in 2010 out of the 764 women who contested local elections 278 were successful. This was a big difference from 2005 when just five candidates contested and all were defeated.
