MICROCAPITAL STORY: Microinsurance Network and Munich ReFoundation, the Organizers of the 5th International Microinsurance Conference 2009 in Dakar, Senegal Announce a Call for Proposals for the Event

Microinsurance Network (formerly the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance) in association with the German based risk management organization, Munich Re Foundation will host the 5^th International Microinsurance Conference in Dakar, Senegal. The three day event will be held from November 3-5, 2009.

As per currently available information, the conference will feature over 300 experts from around the world, including representatives from international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development-aid agencies, insurance and reinsurance companies, academics, policymakers and regulators. The agenda for the conference includes panel discussions, working group sessions and interactive sessions to encourage discussion and facilitate dialogue on emerging issues. The central focus will be the exchange of experiences and discussion of challenges in the field of microinsurance. No further information on the agenda is available at the moment.

Supporting organizers for the event include the International Labor Organization (ILO), the African non-government organization African Insurance Organisation (AIO), The Journal of Risk and Insurance which is the American Risk and Insurance Association’s journal and Conference Interafricaine des Marches d’Assurances (CIMA), the African insurance market conference.

The organizers of the event have called for a submission of proposals, with the final deadline for submissions slated for May 15, 2009. Proposals can be on any of the following themes:

Health insurance to the poor: Submissions should includes issues of outreach and acceptance of health microinsurance, link to social security systems, technology and ‘cashless’ health care.

Linking microfinance and microinsurance: Submissions should focus on models to link microinsurance to other financial services to the poor, risk-management, cost and benefit for MFIs involved in microinsurance.

The African microinsurance experience: Submissions should focus on barriers to the development of microinsurance in Africa, risk management needs, the role of public policy to improve microinsurance and strategies to make microinsurance more accessible and affordable.

Economic analysis of microinsurance markets: This scientific track focuses on topics such as the design of microinsurance systems, effectiveness and sustainability, distribution mechanisms, crowding out and crowding in, etc.

Please refer to the event website for more details on the four themes for the proposals.

To submit a proposal on themes 1-3, please complete the proposal form available here and email proposals to info@munichre-foundation.org.

Proposals on theme 4 should be submitted electronically to jri@hec.ca as a file attachment in Acrobat (.pdf) or Word (.doc) format.

Proposals will be reviewed by the conference steering committee and the decision of acceptance will be notified by June 30, 2009. For a complete list of the members of the conference steering committee, please lookup this page.

Registration for the conference starts July 1, 2009 and ends October 23, 2009. However, no further details on registration or fee for the conference are available at the moment.

By Bharathi Ram, Research Assistant