The Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization

Housed at the International Labour Organization's Social Finance Programme, the Micro-Insurance Innovation Facility seeks to increase the availability of quality insurance for the developing world's low-income families to help them guard against risk and overcome poverty. The Facility was launched in 2008 with the support of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The ILO's Facility provides grants to support organisations to develop innovations in the micro-insurance sector. The grants can support insurance against any type of risk, but priority is given to products where demand exceeds supply, such as agriculture, health, life and property.
www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility

The Access to Insurance Initiative

The goal of the 'Access to Insurance Initiative' is to enhance broad-based, demand-oriented and sustainable access to insurance for low-income clients; thereby growing financial inclusion in the insurance sphere.

The 'Access to Insurance Initiative' is a joint initiative by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, the International Labour Organization and Finmark Trust. 
www.access-to-insurance.org

The MicroInsurance Centre, LLC

Since 2000, The MicroInsurance Centre, LLC has been working with insurers and delivery channels to develop partnerships that result in low-income people around the world gaining access to quality micro-insurance products.
The centre consults organisations around the globe in micro-insurance programme assessment. It has produced a number of case studies on micro-insurance programmes, and conducts trainings, and often leads various working groups on key topics in microinsurance.
www.microinsurancecentre.org/UI/Home.aspx

The MunichRe Reinsurance Company and MunichRe Foundation

MunichRe is an international operating reinsurance company. It operates in all lines of insurance, with around 47,000 employees throughout the world. Munich Re is one of the world's leading re-insurers and possesses unique global and local knowledge.

MunichRe is very much engaged in establishing agricultural insurances in developing countries and emerging markets. Under the name of SystemAgro MunichRe recently developed a sustainable crop insurance system (see also article in Rural 21, no 4/10, pages 14-16)  (www.munichre.com/systemagro).

The MunichRe Foundation supports people at risk, making use of MunichRe's expertise in the area of disaster management. The aim is to make this knowledge accessible to the wider public and develop workable solutions for those affected.

The foundation organises in close cooperation with the Micro-Insurance Network an annual conference on micro-insurance and sponsors various projects on disaster prevention.
www.munichre-foundation.org/StiftungsWebsite/Topics/DisasterPrevention

The Micro-Insurance Network

The Micro-Insurance Network was originally established in 2002 as the CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Working Group on Micro-insurance by donor organisations, multilateral agencies, insurance professionals and other interested parties involved in the promotion and support of micro-insurance in developing countries. Since 2007 it is an independent global network.

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 close cooperation with MunichRe Foundation the Network organises an annual Micro-Insurance Conference. The next conference will be held in Manila in November 2010.
www.microinsurancenetwork.org/network.php

Publications:

UN-DESA information on index-based agricultural insurance
In its innovation briefs of March 2007 the UN-Department for Economic and Social Affairs reports on ?Index-Based Insurance for Agriculture in Developing Countries?. The brochure gives a deep insight into the complex topic on agricultural insurances with case studies from India and Malawi.
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/innovationbriefs/no2.pdf

Insurance of crops in developing countries

This publication by the UN-Food and Agriculture Organization presents detailed information on risks to arable and horticultural crops, and the applicability of insurance to managing these risks.
www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5996e/y5996e01.htm