Oxfam, Swiss Re project brings flood insurance to Bangladeshi villages

A project led by Oxfam has brought an index-based flood insurance product to the river basin areas of the Sirajganj district of Bangladesh, in an effort to bring some protection to the vulnerable area.

Under the program, 1,661 families in 10 villages will be covered under the insurance on a pilot basis. The product aims to provide cash relief of up to 8,000 Bangladeshi taka (just over $100) per household in the event of a catastrophic flood.

“With this very innovative initiative, poor and vulnerable people of Sirajganj district, who are the regular victims of flood will feel more secured,” Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Minister of Disaster Management and Relief commented during a launch event for the program.

“Such kind of initiative helps the government to address the disaster risk reduction.” He urged all to scale up this effort to cover whole Bangladesh.”

“Floodwater that used to create fertile ground for agriculture crops has resulted in catastrophic consequences in Bangladesh now,” noted  Harini Kannan, Head of Agriculture Reinsurance South West Asia from Swiss Re, the reinsurance partner for the project.

“Through this flood index insurance scheme, Swiss Re supports the insurance sector with product structuring, pricing and underwriting, as well as reinsuring the risks,” Kannan added. “The insurance scheme will help to mitigate the fiscal impact of the flooding to the villages, and strengthen the resilience of the economy.”

India’s Center for Insurance & Risk Management (CIRM) developed a “Meso-level Catastrophic Flood Insurance Scheme“, while the Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) in Bangladesh has built the Flood Hazard Model used to generate flood data, according to Oxfam’s project brochure.

Initiated by Oxfam, the project is funded by SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation) and jointly implemented by CIRM Advisory Services (India), Institute of Water Modeling (Bangladesh), Pragati Insurance Ltd. (Bangladesh), Manab Mukti Sangstha (Bangladesh) and Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (Bangladesh).

Photo: Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, MP, Minister of Disaster Management and Relief at the launch of the program. (Credit: Oxfam)