The Fijian Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (MWCPA) today issued 10 social welfare beneficiaries living in high climate risk locations in Fiji with parametric micro-insurance certificates as part of a joint project with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) announced last year.

The project was launched last November, shortly before the start of the cyclone season, for social welfare beneficiaries to be covered by a climate and disaster risk insurance product developed by the UNCDF-led Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme.

A total of 274 welfare beneficiaries from the Western and Central divisions have been covered under the pilot scheme.

The parametric micro-insurance product is designed to build the resilience of social welfare beneficiaries by providing payouts within 3-5 days of an extreme weather event, with no verification of loss required for the funds to be processed.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Rosy Akbar stressed that every year, more Fijians will be forced to leave their homes to escape stronger storms, rising seas, and swelling rivers brought by climate change.

Two local insurers, FijiCare and Sun Insurance, are underwriting the risk with UNCDF providing the technical assistance in developing the product and WFP identifying the high-risk locations and covering the premiums.

Quotes

Honorable Rosy Akbar, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, said: “In the Pacific, climate change is a real threat and combined with an extreme weather event like a cyclone, places our most vulnerable populations in harm’s way. When a disaster strikes, timely financial support is critical to enable those affected to meet their basic and essential needs immediately– and the sooner we can get that support to them, the quicker they can recover,”.

She added that the Fijian Government has taken a holistic approach and has been consistent in strengthening social welfare programmes that provide preventative and responsive social protection services with emphasis on the implementation of strategies and programmes to reduce poverty and vulnerability in Fiji.

"The climate risk insurance programme was also intended to ensure that the social welfare recipients had access to quality social services and livelihood activities"

“The Department of Social Welfare (DoSW) within the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation will be working closely with the WFP and the UNCDF in implementing and monitoring of this first-of-its-kind initiative in the Pacific region. This will be more effectively and efficiently support and protect the poor and the most vulnerable under the Ministry, being our social welfare recipients.”

Preeti Sinha, UNCDF Executive Secretary, said: “For UNCDF, this is a great opportunity to collaborate with the WFP in support of the Fijian Government’s efforts to develop appropriate adaptive social protection insurance initiatives to protect the most vulnerable sections of society.”

“We recognise the importance of supporting the development of risk transfer solutions like climate risk insurance. This is why it is so promising to see our frontier work in the Pacific gaining traction and now poised for expansion in the region and beyond.”

Emma Conlan, Deputy Country Director of WFP’s Pacific Multi-Country Office, said: “As the impacts of climate change intensify, strengthening the safety nets for the most vulnerable populations on the frontlines of the climate shocks is critical- especially the disabled and elderly.

WFP is pleased to join forces with UNCDF and the Fijian Government to provide social protection and risk insurance to vulnerable households in the timeliest manner possible.

“This partnership also contributes to WFP’s ongoing work to strengthen the capacities and resilience of vulnerable populations to respond to climate shocks and ensuring that no one is left behind."

About Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (MWCPA)

The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation is the government agency that administers services and programs aligned to the:

▶ Care and protection of children
▶ Community based correction
▶ Provision of income support to families to address poverty;
▶ Provision of policy intervention for older persons;
▶ Provision of policy intervention for persons with disabilities;
▶ Promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women; and
▶ Monitor, evaluate and report on the progress and impact of Governments Poverty Alleviation
Programme under the Integrated National Poverty Eradication Programme (INPEP) Framework.

About UNCDF

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs). UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: (1) inclusive digital economies, which connects individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyse participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; (2) local transformative finance, which capacitates localities through fiscal decentralisation, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and (3) investment finance, which provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilisation.

About WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFP_Media and @WFPAsiaPacific
For any questions related to this press release or the Department of Social Welfare please contact: Joeli Vueti, Media Liaison Officer, Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Ph: 3312199 / 9907223 or Email: joeli.vueti@govnet.gov.fj