The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Generali Group, and the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) Foundation have unveiled early results from the world’s largest inclusive insurance innovation programme, launched in 2023. The initiative is projected to benefit 2.7 million people across 30 countries by providing financial protection to low-income households, small businesses, farmers, and vulnerable communities, addressing critical gaps in developing countries’ financial safety nets.
Since its inception, the programme has developed over 40 inclusive insurance products and services, with eleven already on the market reaching more than 250,000 beneficiaries. These solutions include an index-based insurance for rice farmers in Vietnam, flexible health insurance for motorcycle delivery drivers in Tanzania, and the world’s first jaguar-protection insurance in Argentina. An additional 25 products in development aim to address diverse needs, such as AI-enabled livestock insurance in Nepal, a parametric scheme for Colombia’s wetlands, and accident insurance for women entrepreneurs in Ecuador, coupled with guarantor-free loans and advisory services to strengthen business resilience.
The initiative is a collaborative effort involving more than 100 public and private partners at local, national, and global levels, catalyzed by $2.9 million in seed financing from the founding organizations. It directly targets the global protection gap, which reached $1.8 trillion in 2023, leaving nine out of ten people in developing countries without insurance coverage during crises such as droughts, floods, illness, or crop failures.
UNDP officials highlighted the programme’s impact in empowering women, strengthening household and smallholder resilience, and enabling businesses to make bold decisions even amid uncertainty. BMZ emphasized the importance of inclusive insurance for climate resilience and economic stability, aligning with the Global Shield for Climate Risks, while Generali stressed the critical role of insurance in supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) against climate, market, and geopolitical risks.
As COP30 in Belém approaches, the programme’s climate-focused insurance solutions are gaining attention for their potential to mitigate the increasing costs of climate disasters, projected at $145 billion in 2025. UNDP and partners are scaling these solutions by enhancing financial literacy, improving regulatory frameworks, strengthening local market capacity, and providing technical assistance to insurtech startups, supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and broader financial inclusion initiatives.
ICMIF Foundation noted the programme’s cooperative model, emphasizing how mutual and community-based insurers can deliver meaningful, lasting impact to low-income households and women globally. Through this large-scale collaboration, the programme demonstrates that inclusive insurance can be effectively designed and implemented to build resilience, reduce vulnerability, and expand access to financial protection worldwide.
