Argentinian ICMIF member Río Uruguay Seguros (RUS) has launched an initiative that seeks, through training, to achieve the greater financial and social inclusion by providing long-term job opportunities. In addition, the company seeks to generate new products and insurance cover that specifically meet the needs of LGBTIQ people.
Reaching a comprehensively more sustainable community is one of the objectives set by RUS through its “Diversity and Inclusion Project”, looking at how insurance can be a tool for change and social and employment growth.
RUS says this is why it has announced that it will provide insurance training for two groups of people for a period three months: a group of eight transgender women and a group of eight people with motor disabilities, applying the “Work Training Programme” which is promoted by the Argentinian Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.
The trainings will be provided jointly by the Ministry of Labour, the Association of Women in Insurance and Río Uruguay Seguros Corporate University (or Universidad Corporativa de Río Uruguay Seguros, U-RUS, in Spanish), and will consist of addressing basic concepts on insurance and insurance culture, among other topics. The training will seek to improve the skills and competencies of each participant who, at the end of the classes, will become what is known as an “Assistant to the Insurance Advisor” in Argentina.
In the event that some people are interested in continuing their studies to specialise in insurance, they will be awarded scholarships and helped by the Association of Women in Insurance and the Río Uruguay Seguros Corporate University to carry out the Insurance Producer Course.
Inclusive insurance development
In October, RUS will be launching specific products that consider the needs of LGTBIQ people, becoming the first and only insurer in America to market inclusive insurance for all LGTBIQ people.
Another action that RUS has been working on is the development of inclusive products for the insurance market, taking into account the specific needs of these groups which have, until now, been underserved by the industry.
Along these lines, last year RUS launched Salud Fem, an insurance designed exclusively to provide cover for women for various forms of female cancer and other conditions specific to women. The cover also includes additional benefits such as medical assistance, complementary examinations, medication, dentistry, glasses, prosthetics, among other benefits.
RUS’s coordinated work with the Association of Women in Insurance will allow not only the development of these inclusive types of insurance cover, but also the creation and development of a sales force with specific knowledge of the various people for whom the new types of cover has been or is being developed.
Awareness
In parallel to the above work, together with United Nations Women and as a signatory of the Principles for the Empowerment of Women, RUS will be carrying out different instances of awareness and training on gender and diversity perspective both within the company and outside with other groups/partner organisations.
Other projects
RUS is part of the team that carries out the “Mujeres y Seguros” Project led by the Argentine Superintendency of Insurance (SSN) with the support of Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) and GIZ Global Leadership Academy, which brings together representatives of the country’s insurance industry that make up the core team and includes the participation of the Ministry of Economy through its Directorates of Economy and Gender, Financial Inclusion and Capital Markets and Insurance. This project is part of the Inclusive Insurance Innovation Laboratory carried out simultaneously by A2ii in Argentina, Morocco, Rwanda and India.
RUS is also part of the Gender Committee of the Cooperative Confederation of the Argentine Republic (COOPERAR) and actively participates in the Executive Forum of Women in Insurance.
