BERLIN, November 27, 2014
—The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), an innovative program managed by the World Bank Group, launched today the Index Insurance Forum at the Agricultural Insurance Conference in Berlin. The Index Insurance Forum will serve as a unique forum for knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices among index-insurance practitioners and industry representatives.
The Index Insurance Forum, led by GIIF and implemented in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO), will help improve and increase the provision of index-insurance among farmers, rural communities, micro and small businesses, as well as financial institutions and other aggregators in need of solutions to mitigate risks linked to climate change and other natural catastrophes. The Index Insurance Forum’s activities will include virtual meetings and webinars, peer exchange visits among its members, dissemination of emerging insights and other knowledge products.
“Over the past six years, GIIF has worked with a wide range of partners and industry stakeholders, including the thought leaders in index-insurance from the private and public sectors. This community of practice will allow us to further leverage the combined knowledge and expertise of this diverse group, taking the index-insurance industry to its next stage of evolution,” said Gilles Galludec, Program Manager for GIIF.
The Index Insurance Forum is a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at combining knowledge and best practices from across the world leading to commercially sustainable markets for index-insurance. It serves as a convening platform where practitioners can discuss issues and solutions to challenges that hinder the growth of index- insurance.
“Through the Index Insurance Forum, GIIF is formally consolidating its already strong network of practitioners, grantees and partners, complementing its ongoing programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean. This initiative fits very well with the Dutch policy agenda on “Aid and Trade.” The Index Insurance Forum initiative will generate a unique and useful database of best practices helping reduce financial vulnerability for millions of small farmers in developing countries,” said Aaltje De Roos, Senior Policy Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, a key donor and partner of GIIF.
GIIF has supported the development and growth of local markets for weather and disaster index- insurance in developing countries since 2009. In July of this year, the World Bank Group and ILO signed an agreement that aims to provide access to improved insurance products to thousands of smallholder farmers, small businesses and individuals across Asia and Africa. Since its inception, GIIF has enabled several hundreds of thousands of farmers across all its key markets to access index-insurance products and reduce the losses arising from weather-related risks.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group plays a key role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. It consists of five institutions: the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Working together in more than 100 countries, these institutions provide financing, advice, and other solutions that enable countries to address the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, please visit
www.worldbank.org
,
www.miga.org
, and ifc.org.
About the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF)
The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) is a multi-donor trust fund established in 2009 and is part of the World Bank Group’s Finance and Markets Global Practice. GIIF supports the development and growth of local markets for index-insurance in developing countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific. GIIF helps establish index-insurance markets through capacity building; technical advice on products and pricing; improvements in the enabling regulatory and policy environment; and premium support to help borrowers access insurance on a broader scale. GIIF is funded by the European Union, the Government of Netherlands and the Government of Japan. More Information:
www.ifc.org/giif
.