The Regional Risk Transfer Initiative: Is Afro Asian Link Possible?

1. The Regional Risk Transfer Initiative: Is Afro Asian Link Possible? Mihir R. Bhatt Honorary Director All India Disaster Mitigation Institute 411, Sakar Five, Near Natraj Cinema Ashram Road, Ahmedabad - 380 009, India Tel: 0091-79-26583607/26586234, Fax: 0091-79-26582962 E-mail: dmi@icenet.co.in, Website: http://www.southasiadisasters.net ALNAP Biannual Meeting, Nairobi, June 13-15, 2006

2. Contents • Introduction • Focus • AIDMI Experience • Background of Regional Risk Transfer Initiative • Afat Vimo: The Scheme • The Scheme Performance • Main Challenges • Next Steps

3. A Sad Reality The poor face disasters on a day-to-day basis. Afat Vimo covers risks that have impact on a small and large scale.

4. Introduction • Within Asia, 24% of deaths due to disasters occurred in India because of its size, population, and vulnerability.(Government of India, “Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-2007”.) • Each year, India suffers disaster losses of US$1 billion according to World Bank studies. • And on average, direct natural disaster losses amount to 2% of India’s GDP and up to 12% of central government revenues. (World Bank Report No. 26844-IN. (Lester and Gurenko 2003).

5. 4. Studies including the Gujarat Community Survey of 2002 by AIDMI and the ProVention Consortium revealed that access to risk transfer is correlated with sustainable economic recovery among victims. 5. How different is Africa’s risk and recovery reality?

6. Focus • The Calamity Relief Fund of the Government of India spends US$ 286 million towards providing relief to the victims of disasters. • Over the past 35 years, India has suffered direct losses of US$30 billion; losses are also increasing, US$9 billion in direct losses were suffered between 1996 and 2000 alone (Lester and Gurenko 2003). • The price tag of the tsunami and South Asia earthquake are surely enormous but are yet to be seen.

7. 4. Assuming that the impact of natural disasters remains so high, and many estimates expect them to increase, how will India be able to cope? 5. Do we even have such risk and recovery data on Africa?

8. AIDMI Experience • The humanitarian acts are packed into a ‘project’ with a clear cut beginning and a perfect end. • Humanitarian actors initially provide relief and leave to provide relief to someone else. Fly in fly out approach prevails. • The humanitarian actors know much less about what happens to victims beyond relief and rehabilitation.

9. 4. Recovery is not perceived as an opportunity to promote structural changes in development planning and governance. 5. Recovery is viewed as a separate humanitarian agenda and not perceived as an integral part of development. 6. Investments in relief often neglect recovery needs or the investments are far too small.

10. Client is ready. “Victims” manage the majority of disaster recovery themselves. Microinsurance can help accelerate their efforts.

11. Lost Opportunity! Tsunami recovery is a huge opportunity to transfer financial risks of the poor. Following a major disaster like the 2004 tsunami, people understand the value of insuring their assets.

12. Are we Funding Losses? Financial losses to disasters in Asia have significantly less coverage than losses experienced in America and Europe. And Africa?

13. Background of RRTI • Launch of Regional Risk Transfer Initiative (RRTI) on September, 2003: Converge Micro-credit, Micro-insurance, and Micro-Mitigation • Key Activities: • Documentation on Best Practice Example Case Studies • Action Research: Demand for Insurance • Development of Risk Transfer Resources • Risk Transfer Demonstration: Afat Vimo, Weather Insurance, and Student Safety Insurance • Action Advocacy: Potential of Micro-finance for Tsunami Recovery and influences Disaster Management Policies such as Disaster Management Bill.

14. Afat Vimo: The Scheme • Afat Vimo (Disaster Insurance). • Covers life and non-life losses. • One-time upfront premium. • Client is a disaster victim. • Integrates insurance with revolving fund and mitigation measures. • The scheme covers losses or damages to house, stock-in-trade, loss of work due to accident and death of earning family member up to Ts. 95,000 ($2112). • The scheme spreads risks across disaster events, communities, occupational groups and geographical areas.

15. Scheme Performance • Premium payment is good and regular. The renewal rate is currently 88%. • A group of 5500 small businesses recovering from earthquake, riots, floods, and tsunami are covered under the Afat Vimo scheme. • Since January 2005, AIDMI has trained 205 community leaders from small towns and villages of Gujarat on reducing their risks on microinsurance.

16. 4. To date, 41 claims have been made to insurance companies. To date, 23 of these claims have been successfully settled, giving a combined payout of US$ 5635. 5. Of the claims that have been made, 10 have been made for life loss, eleven have been for personal accident (some resulting in fatality, others causing loss of earnings), two for house fires, and 18 for damage to property and contents as a result of monsoon flooding.

17. Main Challenges • Low levels of private sector player interest. Focus on high premium and low volume. • Setting up operational systems for collection and settlement. • Incentives for risk reduction. • Legal vacuum. Walked in with trust.

18. 5. Relief as risk reduction investment is possible. But needs models and experimentation. 6. It is a great struggle to do such projects as pilot, even more difficult to upscale action and advocacy with government and international bi-lateral institutions.

19. Next Steps? • Is African risk reality different? • Can there be Afro-Asian link on risk transfer learning? • Will ALNAP encourage such Learning Links, South-to-South? • Is it not what Good Humanitarian Donorship is about?

20. Thank you