Insurance Development Forum, set in motion at GIF

During the Global Insurance Forum, held in Singapore, the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) kicked started its work with 90 public and private sector participants engaged in eight working groups revolving around insurance regulatory systems, risk diversification and the use of micro-insurance. Recently appointed IDF chair Stephen Catlin noted this is “the beginning of a critically important process that will result in specific insurance risk transfer, public policy and resilience recommendations.”

“This public private partnership between insurers, the United Nations and the World Bank Group creates a once in a lifetime opportunity for insurers’ risk management skills to be applied to close the Protection Gap – affording the benefits of insurance in helping protect people and property from natural disaster risk. And protecting society by preventing future death, destruction and injury by building a more resilient infrastructure,” noted XL Catlin executive deputy chair Stephen Catlin.

World Bank Group practice manager, finance and markets Samuel Munzele Maimbo commented: “With this partnership we have a unique opportunity to combine private sector tools and resources with public sector policies and incentives so that we can scale up successful insurance programs faster to respond to an increasing number of extreme disaster events.”

On the same line, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) senior political coordinator Quentin Coolen said: “For the UN, the IDF is not really about insurance – it’s about sustainable development. If development is not risk-informed, it is not sustainable. And who better than the insurance industry to contribute to a better measurement of risk? Clearly, the international policymaker community and insurers need each other.”