Overview

Insurance is emerging as a strategic opportunity for countries to navigate uncertainty and sustain economic growth. Yet in many developing countries, existing insurance products and services are unaffordable, inaccessible and not designed to meet the needs of women, households, smallholder farmers and small businesses. As a result, the global insurance protection gap has reached a record US$1.8 trillion, leaving 9 out of 10 people in developing countries without coverage when shocks such as drought, flood, illness or crop loss strike.  

To address this challenge, UNDP and partners are rolling out the world’s largest inclusive insurance innovation programme across 30 countries. With an investment of over US $2.1million, the programme is powering a new generation of insurance solutions tailored to local contexts, and increasing financial protection where it is needed the most. 

Our approach

Insurance Innovation Country Challenges

Tailored insurance innovation challenges in 30 countries are addressing specific barriers and opportunities to scale financial protection, with a particular focus on women. Insurers, intermediaries, insurtechs and other private sector actors are being called on to design new products, services, models and distribution methods to close financial protection gaps and develop new markets.

UNDP-ICMIF Insurance Innovation Challenge

The UNDP and International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) Insurance Innovation Challenge Fund is scaling up low-cost, inclusive insurance products for women in low-income communities and women-run micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The 4 winning projects in Malawi, Kenya, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are rooted in the mutual and cooperative insurance approach of working with grassroots communities to co-create risk models.

UNDP-Generali Insurance Innovation Challenges

The UNDP-Generali Insurance Innovation Challenges are incentivizing the development of solutions tailored to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Southeast Asia.  In Malaysia, the winning insurtech solution  by VSure Tech includes comprehensive commercial risk products with ‘stackable’ flexibility options based on each businesses’ stage of growth and maturity.  An insurance innovation challenge to build MSME resilience in Thailand is now underway.

Where we
work

Insurance Innovation Challenges Across 30 Countries

Learn More

Global Insurance Innovators Community

The Global Insurance Innovators Community (GIIC) brings together  finalists of UNDP’s Insurance Innovation Challenges, pioneering organizations that are applying insurance in innovative ways to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through national and global-level competition, this initiative identifies and supports innovators developing products that close the insurance protection gap.  

GIIC Case Briefs: Insurtech for Development

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"The UNDP ICMIF Insurance Innovation Challenge demonstrates the power of partnerships and the pivotal role of mutual and cooperative insurers in creating affordable insurance solutions for women in underserved communities.”

 

Liz Green, CEO, International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation