The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) has launched an extensive internship program in cooperation with the University of the South Pacific.
The programme is designed to provide capacity building, training and research opportunities pertaining to ‘Disaster Risk Financing’ in order to strengthen future generations of Pacific Island countries.
The first cohort webinar was held on Zoom from August 3rd — 4th with an introduction to PCRIC and its disaster risk finance and insurance program for the university students who had applied to the internship program.
The webinar saw 20 students joining regionally from the Pacific across a broad range of disciplines including Finance, Accounting, Law, Diplomacy and International Affairs, Public Administration, Tourism, Business Economics, Agriculture, Animal Science, Psychology, Political Science, and Earth Sciences.
The presenters included PCRIC technical assistance team members from Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
The two-day session featured the PCRIC CEO, Mr. Aholotu Palu, the PCRIC Board Chairwoman, Mrs. Sarah-Jane Wild and Mr. Siosiua ‘Utoikamanu, a former Finance Minister from the Kingdom of Tonga.
The PCRIC CEO, explained, “Through the Internship Program, PCRIC has extended its reach to also include future leaders in learning and knowledge opportunities, particularly in the disaster risk finance arena.
Outstanding students will be considered for a working internship paid by PCRIC, with a start date in December 2021. These positions would support one or more of the PCRIC Technical Teams.”
The purpose of this program is to raise the students’ understanding about disaster risk management and financing instruments to support the Pacific region within a global movement of multi-country cooperation programs.
These initiatives are designed to leverage insurance and financial markets to strengthen country preparation and responses to natural disasters and to provide increased financial support to vulnerable populations especially affected by climate change.
“The event was a success judging from the level of participation and questions asked. This has suggested that the internship program provided an extra set of hands that can often help accomplish our objectives. I am sure the program has indeed helped the students have awareness, better understanding and gave them a great learning experience about the company within the disaster risk finance space.
Their ideas and innovations represent the next generation of problem-solving to help the region address its challenges,” Mr. Palu said.
The program was designed in collaboration with GP3 Institute, a research organization that supports SDG-17 partnerships impacting more than 100 countries.
Dr. Timothy Nielander, GP3 Institute founder, said that the “PCRIC internship program will be conducted in phases including a Training and Writing Phase to promote learning and a phase to facilitate Cross-Disciplinary Research and Presentations to stakeholders in the Pacific region.
This is an exciting program which involves students from several countries and areas of study, which provides a platform for student ideas to be explored and shared through publication and presentations in support of the SDGs across the region.”
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