Continuing and
Professional Education Centre. Tuesday, August 25, 2020 —
The UWI
Open Campus and CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk
Insurance Facility) successfully delivered a train-the-trainer
workshop on a new course to be offered at the University, “Disaster
Risk Financing for the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States (SIDS).”

Eighteen lecturers from four of the five
UWI campuses across the region with expertise in disaster risk
management, finance, education, insurance and other related fields
participated in this five-day training workshop conducted over five
weeks, which totalled 25 hours of instruction. Each participant will
be awarded a UWI Open Campus Certificate of Participation with two
Continuing Education Units or CEUs. CEUs are an internationally
recognized system of merit for persons pursuing Continuing and
Professional Education.

CCRIF CEO, Mr. Isaac
Anthony, who provided the welcome and opening remarks to
participants, outlined the context in which the workshop was being
offered. The
workshop was an initiative birthed out of the long-standing
collaborative arrangement between The UWI and CCRIF SPC, dating back
to 2010. This partnership was expanded through a new memorandum of
understanding signed in March 2020 which formalized collaboration
between the two organizations in the areas of disaster risk
management, including modelling and disaster risk financing, climate
change adaptation and importantly research and capacity building
towards creating a cadre of individuals who can effectively support
the development priorities of countries in the region.

The workshop sessions
were facilitated by subject matter experts from the CCRIF SPC team
led by Dr. Michael Spranger, CCRIF’s Chief Risk Management Officer
and Ms. Elizabeth Emanuel, Head
of the Technical Assistance and Corporate Communications Team.

Participants engaged in lectures and
discussions centred on topics including, among others, the impact of
natural hazards in the Caribbean; disaster risk financing; disaster
risk financing instruments such as CCRIF SPC’s parametric
insurance, Cat DDOs, and contingent credit facilities; an in-depth
analysis of CCRIF’s models and policies, as well as country risk
profiles; and an introduction to CCRIF’s WeMAp hazard monitoring
and forecasting tools.

Participants expressed
their appreciation of the new content that was shared. One
participant indicated: “The
technical content was explained in an understandable manner. The
products and underlying inputs and considerations are very clear.
Managers
in the public sector should have a proper understanding of what the
products provide, the underlying factors and the benefits re
management of public sector risks. I
highly recommend this course for students in public policy/public
sector management.”

The training of these academic
professionals was conducted to facilitate the upcoming collaboration
between The UWI Open Campus and CCRIF SPC to offer a Continuing and
Professional Education (CPE) Certificate course in Disaster Risk
Financing for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States (SIDS). Participants of this course will have the unique
opportunity to apply for a scholarship to cover the costs of the
course as CCRIF has contributed US$11,000 to cover enrolment costs.

Follow The UWI Open
Campus’ Facebook Page to stay in the loop and be notified when this
course becomes available www.facebook.com/uwiopencampuscaribbean.

About CCRIF SPC

CCRIF SPC is a segregated
portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean.
It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes,
earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and Central
American governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a
parametric insurance policy is triggered. It is the world’s first
regional fund utilizing parametric insurance, giving member
governments the unique opportunity to purchase catastrophe coverage
with lowest-possible pricing. CCRIF SPC offers four parametric
insurance products: for tropical cyclones, earthquakes, excess
rainfall and the fisheries sector. CCRIF SPC has 22 members: 19 in
the Caribbean and 3 in Central America.

For more information on CCRIF SPC, please visit ccrif.org.