ESA-announce Call for proposals – 8th International Microinsurance Conference, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – 6 to 8 November 2012

Posted on 2012/04/18. Filed under: 經濟, 綜合 | 標籤：2012.05 報名截止, ESA, insurance |

Call for proposals – 8th International Microinsurance Conference

6 to 8 November 2012, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
www.microinsuranceconference.org/2012

From 6 to 8 November 2012, the 8th International Microinsurance Conference will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This event will be hosted by the Munich Re Foundation and the Microinsurance Network, supported by GIZ/BMZ, TIRA, ATI.AIO, MFW4A, iRA, UIA, CEAR and AfDB.

Target audience
Around 400 participants and experts from around the world will exchange experiences and discuss the challenges of microinsurance. The participants will includerepresentatives of insurance and reinsurance companies, international organisations, NGOs and development-aid agencies as well as academics, policymakers, and supervisory regulators.

Themes
To cover subjects that are currently of interest, the conference organisers are calling for proposals on the following themes:

1) Case studies of innovative and viable client-centered microinsurance solutions In theory, insurance should enable low-income households to manage risks more efficiently, but does that occur in practice? How can microinsurers design products thatmeet the needs of low-income households, provide them with good value for their money, while still being viable? Submissions should explore ways in which products can be adapted to ensure that they benefit the target market and/or highlight innovative approaches to managing large numbers of small-ticket policies. Proposals on all types of risks are welcome. Submissions must include soliddata providing evidence of the execution of the programme.

2) Thematic issues
a) Experience with cooperative and mutual insurers
The year 2012 is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives (IYC).
Submissions should focus on the advantages and disadvantages of providing microinsurance through cooperative and mutual insurers and their contribution to reducing poverty and providing value to the client. Presentations shouldhighlight the strengths and challenges of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of providing insurance and furthering socio-economic development.

b) Providing health insurance to the poor
Submissions on this subject should include the following issues: What is the status of the provision of health microinsurance to the poor in terms of outreach and acceptance? How can solutions including PPPs be designed tomeet the needs of the poor? How can social security schemes leverage the expertise and efficiency of the private sector? How is it possible to deal with the limited availability of even basic health service in rural areas? What are effective sustainability strategies for health microinsurance schemes? How can one limit adverse selection and moral hazard? How can one increase benefits, including outpatient cover and pharmaceuticals? How should back office systems be designed in order to reduce costs, improve efficiency and provide better value? Are subsidies needed for effective health microinsurance? Can they be relied on for long-term cover? Where is the ”line” between what needs to be subsidised and what does not?

c) Technology to achieve scale and efficiency
In order for microinsurance to be viable, it needs to efficiently reach large numbers of low-income people. Many microinsurers have high hopes for the role that technology (e.g. mobile phones, portable devices, smart cards, internet, etc.) might play in achieving that objective. How can technology contribute to effective claims handling and help to reach out to potential customers? What role does technology play in consumer education? What will be the role of mobile phones in making insurance more accessible to everyone and expanding microinsurance beyond the low-income market? Presentations should focus on how microinsurance providers followed a practical process to identify the best-suited technology to reach out to customers and explore its pros and cons. Submissions must include information and data about the costs and benefits of making such an investment, an assessment of the break-even point required in terms of premium turnover and/or number of clients as well as a cost-benefit analysis assessing the effectiveness of consumer-education methods.

d) Failures in microinsurance
Microinsurance is growing rapidly. The field finds itself in an intense learning phase in which lessons are eagerly awaited by all stakeholders. Given the relative youth of the field and the sheer complexity of the issues it is trying to address, it is not surprising that some microinsurance projects fail. Since mistakes could easily be avoided if they were evident, the organizers are seeking submissions on failures and the lessons to be learnt from them. What was the project? What were you trying to do? How and why did it go wrong? What would you do differently next time or never do again? What lessons can be learnt? Speakers must have been personally involved in some way in the project they wish to showcase. No documents will be made public
without the speaker’s permission.

e) Consumer protection
The low-income market often lacks experience with insurance services and understanding of the concepts involved. How can microinsurance providers overcome this problem? How can clients be supported more effectively? Do they need more than financial services? Submissions should discuss processes, provide a cost-benefit analysis of different tools and assess the effectiveness and impact of consumer-education methods.

f) Agricultural microinsurance
A large part of the world’s poor population survives directly from the production and sale of crops and livestock. Yet agriculture-related production is among the most risky activities, with farmers across economiclines struggling against the vagaries of weather, other natural calamities, and even international prices. These risks have a negative impact especially onlow-income people. Many models for agriculture insurance are being tested for the low-income market. How can farmers deal with the poor availability of weather data? What are the conditions under which a PPP can work effectively? Are microinsurance solutions the appropriate approach, or are meso- and macro-level solutions key to providing sustainable risk-transfer mechanisms? Submissions should focus on the advantages or disadvantages of different models – index-based, indemnity-based, hybrids, and others on the three different levels – and describe specific cases of their implementation. Presentations must include details relating to product outreach as well as the financial results, and lessons learnt from successes and failures which would be applicable elsewhere. Only submissions based on the details of actual
results will be considered.

3) Scientific track – Economic analysis of microinsurance markets
Together with the Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk, the International Microinsurance Conference will have a scientific track to encourage rigorous economic analysis of microinsurance markets.
Empirical, theoretical and policy-oriented papers are invited on topics such as:
• Appropriate benchmarks to measure the success of microinsurance programmes
• Optimal contract design to control adverse selection and moral hazard
• Documenting impact and customer value
• Effectiveness and sustainability
• Transitioning from informal to formal risk-sharing mechanisms
• Distribution mechanisms
• Transitioning from informal to formal risk-sharing mechanisms
• Crowding out or crowding in alternative risk-management mechanisms
• Regulation, supervision and policy
All submissions intended for the scientific track need to clearly indicate how their proposed session is relevant for practitioners and/or policymakers.

4) Microinsurance training sessions
Various “how to …” training tools, curriculums and sessions have been developed in the past. The conference organisers are inviting proposals for training sessions for a limited number of conference participants which can be integrated in the conference agenda. The length of the sessions may be 90 or 180 minutes, depending on the availability of separate rooms.

Submissions
All proposals will be reviewed by the conference steering committee.
To submit a proposal, please complete the proposal form, which can be downloaded at www.microinsuranceconference.org/2012

To submit a training lesson, please complete the form, which can be downloaded at www.microinsuranceconference.org/2012

Kindly note that no other format can be accepted. Please e-mail the proposal to: info

To submit a proposal on Theme 1, please attach an electronic version of the paper in Acrobat (.pdf) or Word (.doc) format.

Timeline and acceptance
Submission
deadline:
15 May 2012
Notification of
acceptance:
15 July 2012
Submission of presentations and papers for the conference
30 September 2012
Please note that the submission deadline is final.

Travel expenses
Speakers and facilitators will be granted free admission to the conference. There is also limited funding available upon application to pay the economy-travel and hotel expenses of speakers and facilitators only. Travel expenses will be covered for representatives of not-for-profit organisations only (excluding large national or international donor organisations). Applications for travel grants made after submission of a proposal cannot be accepted. There is no limitation on the number of abstracts submitted by anorganisation, but we can cover travel expenses only for one speaker per organisation.

For details on travel grants for speakers and facilitators, pleasesee www.microinsuranceconference.org/2012.

Structure and goal of the conference The conference will have plenary panel discussions on key topics addressing an interdisciplinary audience. Parallel sessions of working groups will deal in depth with different subtopics. Interactive sessions of approximately 90 minutes will be a key part of the conference, facilitating dialogue in small groups on emerging issues.

Conference language
English – French interpreters will be available

Supporting organisations of the 8th International Microinsurance Conference

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) / Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A)
• African Insurance Organization (AIO)
• Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA)
• Association of Tanzanian Insurers (ATI)
• Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (iRA)
• Uganda Insurers Association (UIA)
• Georgia State University’s Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk (CEAR)
• African Development Bank (AfDB)