Red Cross’ First Multi – Disaster Insurance Payout in 2024: In 2024, the world witnessed an onslaught of floods and landslides. The Red Cross informed that this led to the aid sector’s first multi – disaster insurance payout. This event highlights both the enormity of the disaster problem and the necessity for new financial solutions.
How the Insurance Policy Worked and Its Impact: The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stated that indemnity insurance funds like this, which activate when repeated disasters meet a minimum cost threshold, safeguard relief budgets. These budgets are increasingly under pressure from frequent and severe climate – driven hazards. The IFRC’s policy with insurance broker Aon is unique in the aid sector. The deadly Asian Typhoon Yagi in mid – September pushed total disaster spending over the 33 million Swiss franc ($37.84 million) mark, triggering the fund. Over 7 million Swiss francs have been disbursed, helping 1.5 million disaster victims in the poorest countries such as flood – hit Nigeria and those displaced by a Nepal landslide.
Future Outlook and the Role of Donors: Florent Del Pinto, head of the Disaster Response Emergency Fund, said in an interview that this provides contingency funding for exceptional needs. He noted that without this, they couldn’t have responded to current disasters. The worry is that this year’s unprecedented needs reached the relatively high trigger level. The organization is aiming to raise nearly 100 million Swiss francs for its 2025 disaster response budget in Geneva on Friday and will ask donors to contribute to the insurance premium. Del Pinto hopes this year’s payout will ease donor doubts about disaster insurance products. He also said several other aid agencies have inquired about setting up similar funds. As humanitarian needs grow exponentially while funding remains stable, exploring innovative financing is crucial to address the funding gap and relieve human suffering.
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