The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a grant of US $3 million to cover Haiti’s 2018-2019 insurance premiums with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) SPC, a provider of parametric coverage in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The funding will help Haiti meet the cost of the premiums for tropical cyclone, earthquake, and excess rainfall coverage, to which the Government of Haiti will also contribute up to $1.8 million.
Daniel Best, Director of Projects at the CDB, explained that among the Bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries, Haiti is one of the most vulnerable to natural hazards.
“A large percentage of the population of Haiti is exposed to multiple hazards, due to climate change, the rapid growth of unplanned settlements, and ecosystem degradation and decline,” he said.
“We are pleased that the Government of Haiti is collaborating with development partners like CDB to design and implement development projects that focus on reducing the country’s risk to natural hazards, and help it adapt to climate change.”
Haiti’s parametric insurance contract under CCRIF SPC is designed to pay out quickly and reliably in the event of future disaster, the CDB said.
“This type of insurance can play a unique role in tackling humanitarian emergencies by providing quick liquidity at a time when there is a dramatic reduction in Government revenue and, at the same time, a need for large government services expenditures,” continued Best.
The CDB said it committed to continue paying Haiti’s annual catastrophe premiums in its 2017-2021 Country Strategy report, and added that contributors to the Bank’s Special Development Fund had also agreed to a continuation of the grant-supported programme of assistance for Haiti.
Haiti has received four catastrophe insurance payouts in the past, including $7.7 million following the 2010 earthquake, $162,000 for Hurricane Irma in 2017, and two separate payouts of $20.39 million and $3.02 million for Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
