A new era of humanitarian disaster risk financing: WFP becomes first UN agency to join CCRIF

Cayman Islands – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has become the first UN agency and multilateral organization to join CCRIF SPC and purchase parametric insurance coverage. The milestone strengthens the wider Caribbean region’s disaster risk financing architecture and could pave the way for other development and humanitarian partners to follow.

WFP has acquired two tropical cyclone policies for the Dominican Republic and Haiti from CCRIF, with a combined coverage limit of US$11.6 million.  Although the Dominican Republic is not yet a CCRIF member, these policies ensure that vulnerable populations can receive fast, rules-based liquidity after major tropical storms or hurricanes. 

“WFP joining CCRIF is a milestone for CCRIF and for the Caribbean region. It shows that parametric insurance is not only a tool for governments, but for every institution that stands on the front line when disaster strikes. We have always sought to innovate, so that more of the region’s people are protected, and this membership does exactly that,” said Isaac Anthony, CEO of CCRIF SPC.

CCRIF’s parametric coverage will help WFP reach affected communities quickly, predictably, and at scale. By joining CCRIF, WFP can have funds in hand within days, not weeks, if the policy is triggered, allowing them to reach vulnerable families in Haiti and the Dominican Republic when they need rapid assistance the most.

“Every hurricane season poses a risk to thousands of families in the Dominican Republic. Having this financial protection in place allows us to ensure that assistance reaches those who need it most without lengthy resource mobilization processes, if a WFP policy triggers. This means food, support, and hope for vulnerable communities in the critical days following an extreme weather event, when every hour counts,” said Alex Robayo, WFP Representative and Country Director in the Dominican Republic. 

Haiti has been a member of CCRIF since 2007 and has received over US$80 million in CCRIF payouts on its sovereign policies — for Tropical Cyclone, Excess Rainfall, Earthquake, and related endorsements, most recently for Hurricane Melissa in 2025. Now, WFP may also receive payouts when there is a hurricane or tropical storm.

“With more than half of all Haitians already experiencing acute or higher levels of food insecurity, shocks associated with extreme weather can push already-vulnerable families further into crisis. This insurance provides a predictable and rapidly activated financial tool, which may be triggered by a hurricane or major tropical storm, allowing WFP to help affected populations meet their most urgent needs while protecting their ability to recover,” said Lauren Landis, Country Director for WFP in Haiti. 

Advancing Collective Disaster Risk Management and Humanitarian Financing

WFP’s entry into CCRIF brings its membership to 40, reinforcing the organization’s position as the world’s leading development insurer. For the 2026/27 policy year, CCRIF’s total coverage has climbed by 25% to US$1.8 billion, up from US$1.44 billion the previous year - the largest single‑year increase in CCRIF’s history.

Since its inception in 2007, CCRIF has made 82 payouts totalling US$483 million, all delivered within 14 days of a triggering event. These payouts have benefitted more than 5 million people across the Caribbean and Central America. CCRIF’s parametric policies are based on modelled loss, using its models to calculate the impact of an event on the covered area rather than waiting for on-the-ground loss assessments after the event. This allows payouts to be made within 14 days – making this coverage well suited to WFP’s mandate of mobilizing food, cash transfers and other assistance quickly to the areas and populations most severely affected.

Prior to purchasing coverage, WFP has partnered with CCRIF through the WFP-CCRIF Social Protection Top‑up Model, which enabled a diverse portfolio of Caribbean and Central American governments to scale support after disasters through national social protection systems. With WFP now becoming a direct policyholder, it can now directly finance emergency assistance for disaster-affected households, especially where national systems are strained or where the government is not yet a CCRIF member.

This signals a major evolution in how humanitarian agencies can use financial instruments to complement emergency response and demonstrates that parametric insurance is no longer only a sovereign tool, or one for utilities, it is also a humanitarian financing instrument.

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About WFP: The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate extremes.

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About CCRIF SPC: CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) is a not-for-profit, multi-country, multi-peril risk pool and the world's leading development insurer. Established in 2007 following the devastation of Hurricane Ivan on the Caribbean, CCRIF was the first regional parametric insurance facility of its kind - created to give Caribbean governments rapid access to liquidity after natural disasters. Today it serves 40 member governments, public utilities and organizations across the Caribbean and Central America, offering parametric insurance policies for tropical cyclones, earthquakes, excess rainfall, fluvial flood, and sector-specific risks including fisheries, water utilities, and electric utilities, all underpinned by state-of-the-art proprietary models. As a development insurer, CCRIF's mandate is not to maximize profit but to protect its members' development gains: it delivers rapid liquidity within 14 days of a triggering event and reinvests its surpluses in the regions it serves, keeping premiums cost-effective, developing new products to close the protection gap, funding technical assistance, and investing in young people through scholarships and internships. Since inception, CCRIF has made 82 payouts totalling approximately US$483 million, helping governments and utilities stabilize budgets, maintain essential services, and support vulnerable populations during the critical period after a disaster.