Mission Statement

The mission of the Microinsurance Network is to promote the development and proliferation of good-value insurance products for low-income persons by providing a platform for information sharing and stakeholder coordination.

In support of its mission, the Microinsurance Network:

• Distils and disseminates lessons learnt to promote client-driven and good-value insurance;
• Raises awareness on the demand and potential for microinsurance among key stakeholders;
• Contributes to the development of good practices for the industry.

The Microinsurance Network works with a broad range of stakeholders and maintains in all its activities low income and poor people at its centre, prioritising work and actions that meet clients’ needs and protects their interests and well-being.

Structure

The Microinsurance Network is coordinated by the Executive Committee and a Secretariat. The chair has been held by Craig Churchill from the ILO since 2002. The Microinsurance Network is organised into several Working Groups to allow in-depth work on specific topics and issues.

History

The Microinsurance Network was originally established in 2002 as the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance by donor organisations, multilateral agencies, insurance professionals and other interested parties involved in the promotion and support of microinsurance in developing countries.

In March 2002, 16 people met for the first time in Geneva. The result was the first project of the Network: "The Good and Bad Practices in Microinsurance" project. More than twenty case studies, co-funded by Sida, GTZ, DFID and the ILO, were published from 2004 to 2006 and provided the basis for the key publication "Protecting the Poor: A Microinsurance Compendium" in 2006 and the Microinsurance In Focus notes. A year later, in May 2003 in London, the first Working Groups (Operations, Demand and Dissemination) were created to better coordinate the group’s activities.

After having outgrown its informal systems and procedures, the Microinsurance Network decided in 2007 that it needed a clearer membership and organisational structure to accommodate the expansion of interest and activities in microinsurance and the arrival of more and new stakeholders.

International Microinsurance Conference

The first International Microinsurance Conference with more than 90 participants was held in Munich (Germany) in October 2005. The annual event is sponsored and co-organised by the Munich Re Foundation, which is also a member of the network. Subsequent conferences were held in Cape Town (South Africa), Mumbai (India), Cartagena (Columbia) and Dakar (Senegal). The next conference will be held in Manila in November 2010. The Microinsurance Network always holds its annual meeting on the day after the conference.