In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a holistic approach on disaster relief and preparedness seems more vital than ever in order to compensate in direct effects on economic development and growth of ODA countries. Thus, the ISF especially welcomes project concepts targeting the sectors most vulnerable to effects of the pandemic, such as critical infrastructure, emergency relief and financial support of (M)SMEs.

Funding Information

The ISF provides grant-based co-funding of up to 2.5m EUR only to Partnerships consisting of public and/ or private organizations

• which want to
  • develop new climate risk insurance products, especially for governments or
  • scale-up already existing products, e.g. into other regions or to other groups
• in order to
  • increase the resilience of poor and vulnerable people in developing countries to climate change
• where at least one partner is
  • representing the demand and needs of end-beneficiaries (e.g. national or regional government bodies, NGOs, local insurers
  • willing to act as a risk taker (e.g. reinsurance company)
  • located in the target country
• which provide an own contribution
  • matching the grant funding (in-kind and/or as financial contribution, including funds from their own resources and co-financing2)

Target Countries and Groups

Focus on poor and vulnerable households (< 15>

Countries in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Latin America which are eligible to receive official development assistance (ODA) as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and are vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Nevertheless, countries that are official candidates for accession to the European Union or beneficiaries of the European Neighborhood Instrument East are considered to be non-eligible for ISF funding. These include: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Eligible Items

Examples for cost items eligible for funding

• Development of new risk / hazard models
• Technical product design incl. actuarial risk characteristics
• Data collection and equipment
• Policy terms and pricing
• Legal costs, e.g. for the identification of a suitable implementation structure
• Sales and distribution channel development
• New technologies for product improvement and scale up

Criteria

The insurance product covers at least one of the following perils:

• flood, wind / storm, excess rain, drought/ heat waves, cold spells (a combination with other perils is possible).
• The project has a lifespan of up to 24 months / the product is ready for market placement and launch within 24 months after funding approval.
• A work, budget and time plan containing reliable cost estimations exist.
• Relevant experience of implementing partners, reference project exist.
• Funding is requested for product development related costs (e.g. data collection, IT, risk modeling, etc.).

For more information, visit ISF.