- Better Shelter has begun collaborating with the H&M Foundation to provide housing for earthquake victims in Türkiye.
- The earthquakes that hit southeastern Türkiye and northwestern Syria in February 2023 claimed at least 55,000 lives and injured over 100,000.
The H&M Foundation is now initiating a partnership with the Swedish organisation Better Shelter with a donation of 100,000 dollars (approx. 1,070,000 SEK) for investments in temporary homes.
In February 2023, several strong earthquakes hit southeastern Türkiye and northwestern Syria. More than 230,000 buildings were damaged, and three million people—including many refugees from Syria — lost their homes in Türkiye. A year later, reconstruction work is still ongoing, and around 600,000 people still do not have permanent housing.
Thanks to the donation from the H&M Foundation, Better Shelter, through the United Nations Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Turkish Disaster and Preparedness Agency (AFAD), will be able to build 70 temporary homes for around 350 people in the worst-hit Hatay province. The homes will be built during the summer of 2024.
“Many affected families still live in temporary housing in informal camps without reliable access to water, food and income one year after. The scale of this disaster is enormous, and entire cities are still in ruins. We are, therefore, deeply grateful for the H&M Foundation’s generous support, which demonstrates their long-term commitment to people in disasters that are no longer covered by the media. Thanks to this donation, hundreds of people will have a place to call home and a safe base until they can move into a permanent home,” says Glenn Jusnes, Head of Partnerships, Better Shelter.
Better Shelter developed modular shelters to provide people displaced by conflicts and disasters with safe and dignified places to live until they can return home or access permanent housing elsewhere.
“More than a year after the devastating earthquake in February 2023, the need for safe housing among those impacted cannot be understated. That’s why partnering with an organisation like Better Shelter, which has deep knowledge and expertise in this area, is vital in providing the right support to those who need it the most,” says Kristina Svartling, H&M Foundation.
Today, Better Shelter’s modular shelters, used in over 80 countries, including Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Colombia, are a testament to their versatility and reliability. Shipped in flat packages, these homes can be assembled without tools in hours, providing a safe and secure environment that protects against the elements. They feature a lockable door and a solar-powered light, ensuring basic
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Better Shelter is a Swedish humanitarian non-profit organisation based in Sweden committed to increasing the safety and dignity of forcibly displaced persons. Since 2015, Better Shelter has delivered more than 90,000 shelters to emergency, crisis, and development programs in over 80 countries. Better Shelter has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons through collaborations with humanitarian NGOs and INGOs, UN bodies, philanthropic foundations, and academic institutions, including the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the IKEA Foundation and the Red Cross. In 2023, we delivered 6,600 temporary homes to Turkey and Syria, which have provided shelter to over 30,000 people. More info at www.bettershelter.org
The H&M Foundation is privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of the H&M Group. It utilises philanthropic resources to find, fund, and facilitate disruptive innovations, initiatives, and research that enable a socially inclusive and planet-positive textile industry. To accelerate this transformation, the foundation takes a holistic and open approach, bringing diverse partners together to co-create solutions and share learnings. Additionally, the H&M Foundation provides emergency relief. For more information, visit hmfoundation.com.
