November 4, 2008—KINGSTON,The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) will host a workshop on parametric insurance and new product developments, as part of the annual Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management, to be held in Barbados from December 8-12, 2008.

The session will be led on December 8 by Dr. Simon Young, CEO of Caribbean Risk Managers, a specialist risk management consultancy which operates the CCRIF, along with Dr. Jan Vermeiren, CEO of Kinetic Analysis Corporation.

Entitled “Measuring and managing public-sector catastrophe risk: Current role and new directions for CCRIF and parametric insurance”, the workshop will focus on the concepts of catastrophe risk modelling, parametric insurance and alternative risk transfer. It will also highlight new CCRIF initiatives and programmes being supported by developmental agencies to assist Caribbean governments to better understand, mitigate and manage catastrophe risk exposures.

The conference is being hosted by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), and will be held under the theme, “CDM—A Catalyst for Change”.

Now in its third year, the conference seeks to provide the platform for dialogue on initiatives and issues to advance and assess the Comprehensive Disaster Management agenda in the region.

Special attention will be placed on, among other things, ongoing dialogue on humanitarian reform and implications for regional and national disaster response. Also included on the agenda are professional development sessions, showcasing of research, tools and best practices in disaster management, in addition to the hosting of an event for schools. An exhibition hall displaying the latest disaster management/business continuity management products and services will also be included.

The conference will see the coming together of high level speakers in the field of disaster management, in addition to donors, NGOs, public and private sector interests, researchers and civil society.

For interested persons, registration can be conducted online at http://cdm.cdera.org/cccdm/2008/register/register.php 

About the CCRIF: The CCRIF is the first multi-country risk pool in the world, and is also the first insurance instrument to successfully develop a parametric policy backed by both traditional and capital markets. It is a regional insurance fund for Caribbean governments designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes by quickly providing financial liquidity when a policy is triggered.