Originally published by ICMIF.
19 November 2025
The ICMIF Foundation, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Generali Group, has announced early results from the world’s largest inclusive insurance innovation programme. The initiative, launched in 2023, is set to benefit 2.7 million people across 30 countries by developing a pipeline of more than 40 inclusive insurance products and services.
The programme aims to protect low-income households, small businesses, farmers and vulnerable communities from financial risks. To date, eleven solutions have already reached over 250,000 beneficiaries, including rice farmers in Viet Nam, motorcycle delivery drivers in Tanzania and with the world’s first jaguar-protection insurance in Argentina. A further 25 solutions are in development, such as AI-embedded livestock insurance in Nepal and parametric cover to protect wetlands against wildfires in Colombia.
Over 100 public and private partners are collaborating at local, national and global levels, supported by USD 2.9 million in seed funding from the founding partners. The initiative addresses a critical challenge: closing the vast protection gap, which reached a record USD 1.8 trillion in 2023, leaving nine out of ten people in developing countries without insurance coverage for shocks such as drought, flood or illness.
Sabbir Patel, Chief Executive Officer, ICMIF Foundation, said: “Mutual and cooperative insurers have long worked hand in hand with communities to create a safer, more resilient world. Thanks to the invaluable support of ICMIF members providing technical and financial assistance to the UNDP-ICMIF Insurance Innovation Challenge Fund (IIC), we are scaling that cooperative model to reach women and low-income households around the world, demonstrating that inclusive insurance can be designed from the ground up to deliver real, lasting impact.”
The programme’s efforts are closely aligned with the Compromiso de Sevilla, endorsed by 192 countries in July 2025 as a blueprint to close the USD 4.3 trillion SDG financing gap and expand access to financial protection worldwide.
With COP30 in Belém, Brazil underway, the role of insurance in building resilience to climate and economic shocks is under the spotlight. The ICMIF Foundation’s involvement in this global partnership demonstrates the unique value of the mutual and cooperative insurance sector in driving innovation and delivering protection to those who need it most.
For more information, visit the https://irff.undp.org/projects/insurance-innovation-programme and https://icmiffoundation.org/the-undp-icmif-insurance-innovation-challenge-fund/