07 September 2016 — Filipino resource speakers from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and Cebuana Lhuillier shared best practices at the Regional Conference on Risk Transfer and Microinsurance for Resilience Building in the Horn of Africa, which was held in Kampala, Uganda from September 02 to 03. The said conference was co-organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the United Nations Development Program.

IGAD is an intergovernmental platform on development cooperation comprised of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya. On the aspect of climate cooperation, the eight (8) IGAD member countries are further joined by Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

IGAD organizers duly recognized the Philippines as a leading country in the design and provision of high-level financial risk transfer services, ranking #1 in microinsurance penetration globally with over 30 million Filipinos insured or over 30% of the total population. The organizers similarly expressed appreciation to the Philippine government for co-organizing the IGAD mission to the Philippines last May 16 to 20, which paved the way for convening the Regional Conference.

Dr. Saif El Din Daoud Abd El Rhman, IGAD Senior Socio-economist and Resilience Coordinator, remarked, “During our mission in the Philippines, we were able to meet with the Department of Finance and a number of other institutions including cooperatives and rural banks… all institutions are working in harmony and the political buy-in is very strong. After we came back, we immediately put together this regional conference as an exceptional opportunity for South-South cooperation.”

Resource speakers from the Philippines include Mr. Norman Cajucom, Senior Vice President of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and Mr. Jonathan Batangan, General Manager of Cebuana Lhuiller. Mr. Cajucom shared the Philippine government experience and best practices in providing insurance protection to agricultural producers and stakeholders against loss of crops livestock and other agricultural assets due to natural calamities and other perils. Mr. Batangan, on the other hand, presented a strong business case for the Philippines on developing innovative solutions, diversifying microinsurance products, expanding market reach, and growing the business. END