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Ali Jabir
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP): The National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) is evolving from a facilitating and funding entity to a catalytic fund leading on disaster risk reduction measures and climate resilience paradigm in the country. The fund is going to introduce the nation’s first ever nationwide Disaster Risk Insurance framework to ensure climate proof resilience.
The NDRMF has been serving the country since its inception as a facilitation vehicle and has accredited around 32 non-governmental organizations as fund implementing partners (FIPs) that have been trained, capacitated on system design and advancement of especially designed and first of its kind natural catastrophe (NatCat) model during two different training sessions that included specialized training on the model, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NDRMF, Bilal Anwar in an exclusive interview with APP sharing the recent development and initiatives being taken by the Fund.
CEO Bilal Anwar said Disaster Risk Insurance framework development and initiative is the mandate of the Fund and is enshrined the responsibility to define the contours of different disaster risk transfer mechanisms including the Disaster Risk Insurance. “This effort is to facilitate and strengthen private sector finance-based funding streams to finance post-disaster rehabilitation and shift the burden from already limited public funding to readily available private sector finance,” he said.
He added that it is a huge responsibility and the most critical element in the prevailing climate change and disaster challenges that will lead to a comprehensive Disaster Risk Insurance facility to initiate and ensure implementation of the Policy framework. However, a year-long effort has been made on developing Disaster Risk Insurance, he said, adding that the framework will be initially rolled out at the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) School buildings which would be further sprawled to the agriculture sector like crops, livestock and other sectors’ insurance.
Highlighting the constraints to the Disaster Risk Insurance framework, the Fund’s CEO mentioned that the insurance market of the country is small and financial sector not technically and financially ready, as it must absorb risk and provide insurance. He added that the Fund will not become an insurance company but rather will facilitate the process to develop the framework and empower and technically support the insurance sector for its implementation.
The insurance premium, he said will be subsidized through fund to extend it to small income groups impacted by disasters. “NatCat again is facilitating technically and will make insurance survey technically viable in the hard to reach and vulnerable areas,” he said.
Bilal Anwar said the Fund’s evolving role being undertaken is defined through the process of its business policy that guides its course to venture new and innovative avenues. Risk modelling, he said is one of the unique efforts of the Fund which has been a critical technical constraint as no institution prior to NatCat possessed the capacity to ensure such instrument that could be capable of guiding such policy planning and climate adaptation.
The NatCat risk model, he said is being scaled up further for a long-term and will be integrated at the national and provincial levels. Moreover, the Fund will beef up resources on developing new applications on it, he added.
The NDRMF chief executive informed that the Fund is also working on another national constraint of tapping global climate finance. “The national institutions lack capacity to meet global technical and regulatory climate finance requirements. The Fund’s newly established mechanism Project Preparation Facility is designing a portfolio aligned with global financial institution that will unblock climate finance and under this the Fund will undertake capacity buildup of national institutions,” Bilal Anwar said.
The Fund has received national level recognition and acknowledgement in afforestation, reforestation, flood and watershed management and protection of vulnerable areas. The NDRMF has secured donors increased recognition and confidence on upcoming Disaster Risk Insurance framework which is an asset to be implemented at the provincial level, the CEO NDRMF said.
He added that all the interventions of the NDRMF have been embedded in the capacity building and strengthening efforts for the provincial institutions.
NDRMF is also assisting the provincial governments in developing their localized Disaster Risk Reduction Policy that will grow its network at the community level, he said.
Responding to a query, he said private sector and NGOs have their pilots on Disaster Risk Insurance in the market and are learning from their experiences. Since, the NDRMF scope is at the national level and its lessons learnt have been very valuable for the Fund as its mostly relying on private and NGO sectors, he added.
Disaster Risk Insurance, he said may face religious and cultural challenges and other market impediments. These challenges have restricted evolution of disaster risk financing and insurance instruments as means of viable social protection can be a helpful elements in gaining market trust.
To another query, he noted that the NatCat is an indigenous and Pakistan specific disaster risk model based on climate models that are regional in nature. It has localized results that have been sought by many regional models to integrate into it for a holistic regional climate model, he added. “Asia as a region lacked such comprehensive model in the past which has a superior system with advanced technologies and capacity. Even India does not have such a comprehensive system,” Bilal Anwar said.
He elaborated that the Disaster Risk Insurance was previously designed on regional models that made the premium for insurance unrealistic whereas NatCat has built the capacity and filled the gap.
CEO NDRMF, Bilal Anwar underlined that the Fund is evolving to become a catalyst funds that will be managing different funds, and pioneering efforts in new areas and sectors like Disaster Risk Insurance framework and Disaster Risk modeling capacity building.