International policy frameworks have placed climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI) firmly on the international agenda. These frameworks also acknowledge the relevance of gender-sensitive and -responsive approaches to mitigate existing gender inequalities and take climate change action towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context there is a consensus underlining a clear imperative to consider the gender-dimensions of climate risk in finance and insurance. As such, gender-responsive CDRFI lies at the convergence of multiple international policy priorities and global commitments framed by the SDGs. For example, climate change; disaster risk reduction; inclusive finance, agriculture and social protection. Moreover, each theme is rooted in its own set of international frameworks and processes, such as the UNFCCC and its Gender Action Plan.
At a national level these entry points converge and are translated in national policies and strategies, and in turn rendered into practice at an institutional level in the provision of CDRFI. While there are existing good practices, there is the opportunity to convene multiple stakeholders with diverse entry points to CDRFI to share experiences. Moreover, there is an urgent need to address challenges that exist in terms of policy coherence and implementation on the ground and identify practice gaps that could hinder progress on the ground. This webinar seeks to explore these themes.
The objectives of this Live Talk 03 are to:
At the start of the session, a presentation will be provided to highlight examples of international policy entry points for the CDRFI gender agenda. Followed by two panel discussions:
Session 1: Gender and CDRFI: Converging international policy agendas
Interactive panel discussion on the various policy entry points to the topic of gender-responsive CDRFI. Panelists from multiple policy entry points will set out and reflect on how gender and CDRFI are reflected in their respective international policy commitments and actions, where there are gaps and recommendations for further policy coherence and action to ensure that CDRFI reaches poor and vulnerable women as well as men in developing countries.
Session 2: Translating Policy Commitments into Practice
Interactive panel discussion on implementing international gender commitments in practice. This session will consider two angles of translating diverse international policy commitments related to gender and CDRFI at a national level and institutional level. The discussion will start from considering the national policy perspective and how gender and CDRFI are integrated into NDCs, NAPs and national green growth/economic, financial inclusion and disaster management, and social protection strategies, to ensure that CDRFI reaches poor and vulnerable women as well as men in developing countries. In turn, it will explore institutional approaches to translating international gender and CDRFI commitments in inclusive climate action and CDRFI in practice and successful approaches and challenges, as well as practice gaps.
Should you want to review previous LIVE TALKs, please follow the links below:
Katherine has considerable international experience working in private sector development, gender and women’s financial inclusion, including a strong focus on insurance. Most recently Katherine has provided gender expertise to the InsuResilience Global Partnership on gender and climate risk insurance coauthoring two publications on the theme: Applying a Gender Lens to Climate Risk Finance and Insurance, and Integrating Gender Considerations into Different Models of CRI. This builds on previous technical expertise as a long term gender and financial inclusion consultant for United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) where she led the development and guided the implementation of its regional gender strategies. This work included engaging with financial service providers and developing a self-assessment tool for financial service providers in Myanmar to enhance their institutional gender policies and practices. On behalf of UNCDF Katherine provided technical support to members of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion in the development of the Denarau Action Plan – the AFI Network Commitment to Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion and in turn, the development of working group guidance notes on the themes of Sex-disaggregated Financial Inclusion data, Integrating Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion into National Financial Inclusion Strategies, and Policy Responses to Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). On behalf of GIZ in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Women’s World Banking and the Access to Insurance Initiative, Katherine has also co-authored the publication “Mainstreaming Gender and Targeting Women in Inclusive Insurance: Perspectives and Emerging Lessons A Compendium of Technical Notes and Case Studies”. Katherine began her career as a management trainee at the private international health care and insurance company BUPA. She has an MSc International Development (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam and a BA (hons) Anthropology from the University of Durham.
Ms Emily Coleman has over 17-years’ experience in international development at UN institutions, 15 years of which she has been working on agricultural insurance. Currently she is the agricultural insurance senior expert for the Sida-financed INSURED programme, which is implemented by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM). Ms. Coleman’s experience in agricultural insurance spans project management, implementation, research and development, capacity building, and technical assistance across different regions. Her field experience has been focused on Africa and Asia, including Cambodia, China, Rwanda, Senegal, and Zambia. Ms. Coleman has co-authored international publications on agricultural insurance which include a review of global experiences, guidance for governments and donors, and findings on remote sensing for index insurance development. She has been regularly called upon to present at different international fora on the topics and to contribute to global policy dialogue such as to the G8 and G20. Ms. Coleman has designed, coordinated, and provided technical support to a number of donor- and IFAD-funded initiatives on insurance and financial inclusion.
Krishnan Narasimhan is a seasoned inclusive finance practitioner with over three decades of domain experience in financial services covering insurance, mutual funds, equity and bonds, investment management, having served in responsible senior Managerial positions with financial institutions in India and other countries including as Country Head of a life insurance company in Fiji.
He is currently a Programme Manager with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and heads the newly launched Climate Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Programme, a joint UNCDF/UNDP/UNU-EHS initiative. Based in Suva, Fiji Krishnan is responsible for programming and project implementation in eight Pacific countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu) and supporting an evolving portfolio in other regions
Krishnan has led the UNCDF Pacific team in supporting the regional Central Banks for the development of the National Financial Inclusion strategies, presently such strategies are being implemented in Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Krishnan has developed several innovative digital financial service implementations in the Pacific covering mobile wallets, mobile banking, remittances etc.
Krishnan has pioneered the introduction of microinsurance products in the Pacific, first in 2011 as Head of the Life Insurance company and later in 2017 as the team leader for inclusive insurance for UNCDF. He has also led the development of micro pension solutions for the informal sector in the Pacific through his engagement in four countries.
Krishnan holds Post graduate qualifications in Human Resources and Business Management. He also has International Post Graduate Certifications in Microfinance, Climate Change and Renewable energy finance from the prestigious Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Leadership certificate from the Wharton School of management. He has attended and presented at many global seminars, workshops and training programs on Micro insurance, Pensions, Risk management, Micro and SME Banking. He has also authored several focus and technical notes as well as contributed a chapter to the global white book titled “Saving a billion from old age poverty: Global lessons for Local action.
World Food Programme, Risk Finance Consultant
Leticia Gonçalves. A Brazilian risk finance specialist, Leticia has 20 years of experience in insurance and 10 years in inclusive insurance and climate risk insurance. She has been supporting the design, implementation and knowledge sharing of WFP innovative risk finance initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean since June/2020. Leticia is currently based in Portugal, where she is finishing her PhD in Territory, Risk and Public Policies at the University of Coimbra.
Associate, International Institute for Sustainable Development and NAP Global Network
Angie Dazé is a Senior Policy Advisor and the Lead on Gender Equality for the Resilience team at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). She is also a member of the Secretariat of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network. Angie’s work focuses on policy and practice related to climate change adaptation and resilience, with a focus on gender equality and social inclusion. She has provided technical support to a number of governments on adaptation planning, and has developed practical guidance and tools for vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning with a gender lens. Previously, Angie worked for CARE International and for the Canadian government.
StartNetwork, Research and Learning advisor – Crisis anticipation and risk financing
Sarah Barr is a learning and evaluation specialist for crisis anticipation and risk financing at the Start Network. The Start Network is a Network of over fifty humanitarian organisations globally focused on reforming the humanitarian system. Her work is focused on building the evidence base for early and trigger-based humanitarian programmes, and creating tools and approaches to push the quality of civil society owned disaster risk financing programmes. She has conducted learning and impact studies for a early actions across a range of hazards and geographies including Pakistan, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Malawi. She is currently focused on building tools for quality assurance of disaster risk financing systems, with a focus on mainstreaming key cross-cutting issues including gender and accountability to affected populations.
Prior to that she worked for the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement on monitoring and learning, and for a range of NGOs. Her academic background is social anthropology, international relations and conflict studies.
Caribbean Policy Development Centre, Project Consultant-Capacity Building
Karen Philip is a regional development consultant who is also a graduate of the University of the West Indies and holds both a BSc. Social Work (Special) and a Masters in Gender and Development Studies.
From 2004, she has worked both in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. Among the positions she held is a team member at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre since 2015. In this portfolio, she manages regional projects which work with vulnerable groups, capacity building and governance for non-governmental organisations.
Ms Philip has the responsibility of building the institutional, operational and technical capacity of Caribbean NGOs. Ms. Philip was a key player in developing and executing the On the Front Line: Violence Against Women study, the NGO Professional Management Certificate Course and NGO Leadership Training Workshops.
Ms. Philip is also responsible for designing the gender portfolio for CPDC, ensuring gender mainstreaming. Ms. Philip has worked with several donors such as the European Union, Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Women and the United States Agency for International Development.
Climate and Resilience Project Manager, CARE International, Madagascar
Agronomist, Felana’s career started at AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center Madagascar as a research assistant in order to develop climate-responsive vegetables. Since 2012, Felana has worked on the formulation and implementation of long term rural development projects and programs that contribute to improve livelihoods, food security, nutrition and resilience of smallholder agriculture in different parts of Madagascar. Currently, Felana leads the implementation of climate and resilience initiatives including gender equality at CARE International, Country Office of Madagascar
Fleur Newman leads the intergovernmental work on gender and climate under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. She is also the Gender Focal Point and Focal Point for Women for the UN Climate Change secretariat. Fleur is a lawyer by training who, before joining the UN, spent 10 years practicing law in the private sector in areas including climate change, sustainability, energy and international law. Throughout her career, Fleur has been an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Fleur has a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Development and Master of Laws in International Law.