Genesis

Knowledge of practices, good and bad, across the developing countries in Asia can not only foster the development of the micro insurance sector, but also can accelerate the process. It is in this backdrop, Tata-Dhan Academy, a development education institute, promoted by DHAN Foundation, a pioneering not-for-profit development organization in India has endeavoured to set up the ‘Asian Knowledge Center for Mutual Insurance’ (ASKMI). DHAN Foundation has over two decades of rich field experience in furthering mutuality amongst the poor communities through its various programmes. The ‘Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme’ is one of the largest community based self-help initiative of DHAN Foundation, which has an outreach of well over 300,000 poor women as members.

For more than a decade, the federations of Self-Help Groups (Kalanjiams, as they are called) have added micro insurance into their portfolio as part of the services rendered by them. Many of them have attempted and proved the feasibility of applying the concept of mutuality in delivering micro insurance services to their members. In 2003, these federations have come together and promoted the ‘People Mutuals’, an exclusive organization that could strive to promote mutual insurance as a concept and practice among the federations. The Netherlands based ‘Oxfam Novib’ and ‘RABO Bank Foundation’ extended financial support while ‘Interpolis’ provided the technical assistance. Some of these federations have already set up mutual insurance programmes with the technical assistance of Micro Insurance Association of Netherlands (MIAN), all of which have exhibited initial successes and a lot of potential to cater to the diverse needs of the poor. The experience has to be documented and taken to relevant stakeholders for learning and contextualization. Further research on this is also warranted in advancing the concept and practice. This is not an experiment in isolation. There are many such similar experiments occurring in diverse contexts, each of which could offer rich learning for the other and potential new entrants.

ASKMI, the specialized center at the Academy would endeavour to foster the process of advancing the practice of micro insurance through appropriate knowledge management systems and processes that include research, documentation, publication, training, education, policy advocacy etc. ZLM, a mutual insurance company in the Netherlands, has been generous in extending financial support to the establishment of ASKMI within the Academy. MIAN is providing guidance and support for nurturing the Center. Oxfam Novib, RABO Bank Foundation and Interpolis have also added to the support. ASKMI would draw on the strengths of ‘People Mutuals’ and would collaborate with other MIAN partners in the world and other interested stakeholders towards realizing its purpose.