On Tuesday 14 November a workshop was jointly hosted by the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) with the Insurance Institute of India (III) in Mumbai (India) with the theme Closing the Protection Gap in India – a People-Based Solution. The workshop was attended by over 50 attendees.
The workshop follows the release in July 2017 by ICMIF of a country diagnostic report on the mutual and cooperative microinsurance landscape in India as part of ICMIF’s 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy which aims to make a positive impact through microinsurance on the lives of millions of low-income households in a number of emerging markets. ICMIF plans to reach out to 5 million previously uninsured, low-income households in five countries (Colombia, India, Kenya, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka), over a five year period, totalling 25 million people. This week’s Mumbai workshop is part of efforts by ICMIF and the Insurance Institute of India to promote an enabling environment for mutual insurers in India as part of the 5-5-5 project.
The workshop was attended by senior representatives from the Indian Insurance industry; delegates from ICMIF member organisations in India; Thierry Weishaupt, Development and Operations Manager China, Group VYV (France) who has been supporting ICMIF in its advocacy work; and representatives from ICMIF member CARD MBA (the Philiippines). Also in Mumbai for the workshop were representatives from ICMIF member companies Länsförsäkringar (Sweden) and The Co-operators (Canada) who are in India this week as part of the 5-5-5 Uplift Mutuals annual review. Länsförsäkringar and The Co-operators are just two of the ICMIF member organisations who have provided financial support to the 5-5-5 project in India. Representatives from each ICMIF donor organisation meet with the country project member companies yearly to receive an update on the project’s progress.
Highlights of the workshop included:
- A welcome address from Mr. P. Venugopal Secretary General, Insurance Institute of India
- A welcome from the President of the Insurance Institute of India, Mr. G. Srinivasan President
- A presentation by Thierry Weishaupt on the topics of How Mutuals work in developed countries such as France. How the Chinese have adopted mutual insurance. The potential for mutual insurance in India.
- A presentation on the India diagnostic report
- Panel discussions on how mutual microinsurance works and how to create an enabling environment for mutuals
Speaking after the workshop Sabbir Patel, Senior Vice-President, Emerging Markets, ICMIF said: “We believe that the workshop was an important event and will contribute to a better understanding of the way forward in developing inclusive mutual insurance in India.”
Photo shows: Dr George Thomas, Mr Warendra Sinha, Mr Sabbir Patel, Mrs T L Alamelu, Mr Nilesh Sathe and Mr Girish Kulkarni (left to right
