Day 3: Final Day of Workshop Reinforces Ongoing Need for DRF Education and Capacity Development

Panellists from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the Asian Development Bank, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office opened an exciting Day 3 of PCRIC’s Regional DRF Workshop in Suva. Participants gained a valuable understanding of the DRF related programs and activities funded by these key regional development partners. A common emphasis was that development endeavours be led by the Pacific nations, with financial and technical support coming from partners in ways that reinforced sovereignty and ensured that outcomes were correctly aligned to the priorities of island nations.

Following SPC’s informative presentation of its work on tools designed to inform and enhance resilience outcomes, the workshop was treated to an enlightening narrative on the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC). Created as the world’s first multi-country risk pool almost a decade earlier than PCRIC, the presentation provided rich insights to the positive impact and lessons learned from the provision of pre-planned DRF over a period of almost 20 years. Operating at a scale much larger than PCRIC’s current Pacific activity, participants gained a sense of the future potential for PCRIC as a DRF partner across the region.

At the other end of the scale, attendees enjoyed the presentation by the Reserve Bank of Fiji which spoke to DRF at the micro-level. Addressing insurance against disaster impact at the family unit level, it was impressive to see the reach of early-stage interventions at this end of the market.

Elsewhere, the panel discussion on PCRIC’s education and capacity building initiatives was well received. This highlighted the deep commitment PCRIC and our partners have to enhancing DRF knowledge and understanding and building local capacity throughout the region, with an exciting array of opportunities covered.

Closing out the workshop it was evident that demand remained strong for continuation of this regional DRF initiative. PCRIC is committed to future workshops and planning is already underway for 2027.