Impact

The objective of this Working Group is to enhance knowledge about the impact of microinsurance by increasing the quality and quantity of available evidence , and to assist in its dissemination. The Impact Working Group consists of more than 20 experts in the domain of impact assessment.

News

In December 2009, the Impact Working Group launched the "Stocktaking" website, which serves as a clearinghouse of information on ongoing impact assessments of microinsurance.

The Impact Working Group is soon to release a "Stocktaking Initiative" and a "Practical Guide" project note.

Annual workplan

The Impact Working Group will work on following activities in 2010:

• Complete first rounds of systematic review and stocktaking exercises;
• Continue fundraising;
• Develop "practical guide" to impact assessment.

Stocktaking Initiative:

With the "Stocktaking" website already launched, the Impact Working Group will continually update and add new features to this site, including adding completed impact assessments of microinsurance.

Systematic review of completed impact assessments of microinsurance:

The Working group is conducting a systematic review of completed impact assessments of microinsurance. Preliminary results show that, though there have been some studies on the impact of microinsurance, many have methodological problems. As a result, the ability to draw insights across these studies on the impact of microinsurance is reduced.

"Practical Guide" to Impact Assessments of Microinsurance:

It is also coordinating the authorship of a "practical guide" to impact assessments of microinsurance. This guide, geared towards a non-academic audience, will be available both in print and in an online Wiki format. As of Dec 2009, we are in the process of recruiting authors for specific topics. We expect that the first articles will become available online in summer 2010.

Additional information

What is impact?

"Impact" is defined as observable changes or effects on conditions or behaviours resulting directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, from a specific microinsurance programme. Impact assessment observes, measures and describes the results of an intervention or programme.

Why assess the impact of microinsurance?

At present, very little is known about the impact of microinsurance on the client, household, community, enterprise or institution. Funding agencies may request programme evaluation; however they rarely require schemes to assess their impact. As a result, there is a paucity of impact research available.  As more funds pour into the sector, such information on impact is urgently needed. Impact research, however, would need to build on high-quality research methodologies, many of which are not yet developed for microinsurance impact assessment. High-quality impact research could assist microinsurance providers to better understand how their products are working by flagging any changes or side effects, positive or negative, attributed to their product. This information could then be used to:

• Produce evidence on the most effective programmes;
• Learn from past mistakes and avoid ineffective designs;
• Create more effective programmes;
• Include impact assessment in product design;
• Assist donor agencies in funding effective, evidence-based programmes.

What is needed?

Some lessons could be learned from impact assessment of microfinance programmes, but need to be made available for microinsurance; many, however, do not exist yet and need to be developed and tested. High-quality microinsurance impact assessment should include a mixture of methodologies, tailored to respond to different impact dimensions depending on the type of insurance scheme.

Past activities

This Working Group was set up in November 2007.

Micro Insurance Academy (MIA) received a full-time ILO's Microinsurance Innovation Facility fellow, Theresa Chen, to coordinate the Impact Working Group activities from August 2009 to August 2010.

The Working Group also drafted a fundraising proposal and applied for and was awarded 10.000,- Euro from the Microinsurance Network to kick-start its planned "practical guide" activity.

Mode of operations

The Impact Working Group mainly communicates via e-mail and relies on individual project execution by ILO Microinsurance Innovation Facility Fellow.