The Philippine government encourages farmers to use insurance as a safety net against disasters
Philippine Information Agency, 25 June 2012
Farmers and other low-income sectors have been urged by the Department of Finance (DOF) to reconsider microinsurance as a safety net for their lives and livelihood as the typhoon season starts. Minimum wage earners should anticipate the risks of disasters and cover their “house, life and livelihood” with microinsurance, said DOF undersecretary Gil Beltran during the Training on Microinsurance Advocacy held at Clark Freeport on the 23 June 2012, adding that “the Philippines has all the disasters in the world. Microinsurance will give the opportunity to bounce back”.
Mario Valdes, executive director of the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association, disclosed that only 2% of the over 90 million people in the country are covered with insurance, mainly because of misconception and lack of trust. “The “come what may” attitude should not prevail. Even if you don’t want to get sick, you could get sick. For abstaining from one cigarette or one text message a day, you could save for microinsurance,” he declared.
Read article
The Ghana Agricultural Insurance Programme looks for a project manager
June 2012
The Ghana Agricultural Insurance Programme (GAIP) was set up in 2011 to provide agricultural insurance for farmers and financiers of agriculture in Ghana. The Pool is made up of 19 non-life insurance companies in Ghana and it operates under the umbrella of the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA). GAIP conducts its day-to-day operations through its operational entity: the Technical Management Unit (TMU), which is responsible for the design and pricing of index insurance products, sales and marketing, reinsurance negotiations, underwriting, as well as claims settlement on behalf of the Pool. GAIP is seeking the services of a full time project manager to run theTMU.
The project manager will be responsible for the supervision and management of TMU staff and their work programmes. He will be the key contact for reinsurance contracts, risk placement and recovery of losses and will develop annual business plans. Interested candidates can send their application by the 30 June 2012.
More information
Principles for Sustainable Insurance launched at the G20 in Brazil
Close to 30 leading companies from the insurance industry, worth over USD 5 trillion in total assets and representing over 10% of world premium volume, have joined a UN-backed process to promote a set of Principles for Sustainable Insurance designed to green the sector and provide insurance tools for risk management in support of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The principles provide an approach to managing a wide range of global and emerging risks in the insurance business, from climate change and natural disasters to water scarcity, food insecurity and pandemics.
The principles also aim to position the insurance industry as a lever for a green economy and sustainable development. Signatory companies will publicly disclose their progress in implementing the Principles for Sustainable Insurance on an annual basis.
Principle 1
We will embed in our decision-making environmental, social and governance issues relevant to our insurance business.
Principle 2
We will work together with our clients and business partners to raise awareness of environmental, social and governance issues, manage risk and develop solutions.
Principle 3
We will work together with governments, regulators and other key stakeholders to promote widespread action across society on environmental, social and governance issues.
Principle 4
We will demonstrate accountability and transparency in regularly disclosing publicly our progress in implementing the Principles.
More information
A week of inspirational stories on insurance cooperatives
Stories.coop, June 2012
During the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2012, the Stories.coop website will help to deliver the UN’s message “Cooperative enterprises build a better world” to the global public by telling a unique story every day about cooperatives from all around the world throughout 2012.
From 9 to 16 June, the stories will all feature insurance cooperatives.
Day 1: Insuring the world's soya beans - Tajy, Paraguay
Tajy is a cooperative insurer in Paraguay, which works in collaboration with La Segunda, an insurance group from Argentina, to help Paraguayan farmers facing the havoc caused by a severe drought in 2008. Demonstrating the success of the model, the number of soya producers insured in Paraguay jumped 359% between 2010 and 2011.
Day 2: SSVMN dominates insurance in Costa Rica - SSVMN, Costa Rica
Sociedad de Seguros de Vida del Magisterio Nacional (SSVMN) was formed ninety years ago, insuring Costa Rican teachers. Today, SSVMN provides insurance for nearly 25% of the Costa Rican population.
Day 3: Out of crisis rises P&V - P&V, Belgium
The purchase of ING's Belgium operations at the very beginning of the Global Financial Crisis nearly caused the collapse of the P&V cooperative insurance group. But the group succeeded for the stress test that followed, and came through the crisis relatively unharmed.
Day 4: CIC Kenya pays claims relating to post-election violence - CIC, Kenya
Kenyan cooperative insurer, CIC Insurance Group, took a clear stand to pay claims resulting from losses due to political violence. For now on, post-election related claims paid by the company amounted to about 955,000 EUR and this figure is expected to increase.
Day 5: “We are ACDI/VOCA”, ACDI/VOCA, USA
Formed in 1963, the non -profit organisation ACDI/VOCA aims at developing cooperatives around the world in the areas of agribusiness, food security, enterprise development, financial services and community development. It currently has more than 100 projects running to empower people to succeed in the global economy.
Day 6: Uplift makes healthcare affordable for India's poor, Uplift, India
A high percentage of the Indian population lives in slum-dwelling and has a difficult access to medical care. The cooperative insurer Uplift Mutuals offers microinsurance products to those people, with the idea that the insured need not only health coverage but also advice and assistance in times of need.
NYTimes' article highlights a microinsurance revolution
The New York Times, 6 June 2012
In South Africa, where some 18% of the adult population lives with H.I.V., the idea of life insurance for people with AIDS was an oxymoron until recently. Tina Rosenberg of The New York Times profiled AllLife, a South Afican insurance company established to insure HIV-positive people, citing customer David Patient as a case study. His policy, purchased six years ago to provide for his partner upon his death, will allow his partner to receive 500,000 ZAR (47,365 EUR). All patients receive antiretroviral treatment for free, and AllLife requires customers to make regular medical visits, receive essential periodic tests and follow treatment protocols. The company cannot ensure that the treatments will succeed, but an arguably more incredible effect has occurred: The patients, on average, see their health improve once they know they have been insured. AllLife Managing Director Ross Beerman told Rosenberg that clients average a 15% improvement in their immune system marker six months after buying insurance, regardless of whether they are taking antiretrovirals. "We're saying you don't have a terminal illness." Beerman told Rosenberg. "You have a chronic, manageable disease. You're going to live a long time. And we'll help you."
Beyond this case study, the author analyses microinsurance growth as revolutionary. “The poor live off the banking grid, the transaction costs of issuing millions of small policies are too high and typical products aren’t designed for the needs of the poor. Microcredit overcame these barriers and now reaches hundreds of millions of people. Now a similar revolution is beginning with microinsurance”, she wrote, highlighting the 6.5% outreach growth over the last five year – now reaching out almost half a billion people according to the International Labour Organization.
Read article
AMCT looks for microinsurance consultants
Afriquemplois.net
AMCT Conseil, an African organisation helping microfinance institutions (MFI’s) to get into the microinsurance sector, is looking for 13 microinsurance consultants to enhance its microinsurance product offering. The consultants will prepare and facilitate workshops, conduct market study with MFI’s customers and design microinsurance products.
Applicants should be graduated from an insurance school and have good actuarial qualifications. Positions will be based in several French-speaking countries from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Read offer (French only)
|
