IAA Public Statement (PS-1-2016): OECD consultation on a draft Recommendation on Disaster Risk Financing Strategies

TO:                Council Delegates

COPY:            Correspondents

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published for public comment, a draft Recommendation on Disaster Risk Financing Strategies.

Background:  The effective financial management of disaster risks is a key public policy challenge for governments around the world, particularly those faced with significant exposures to such risks and/or limited capacity to manage the financial impacts of natural and/or man-made disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, cyclones, terrorist attacks, industrial and technological accidents, and pandemics (amongst others). Fora such as the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC)have devoted significant attention to these issues.  Substantial guidance and analysis from international organisations such as the OECD, the United Nations and the World Bank on disaster risk management have also been developed.

 In 2010, the OECD Council  adopted the Recommendation  of  the  Council  on  Good  Practices  for Mitigating and Financing Catastrophic Risks to provide guidance on the main components of disaster risk management.

The proposed Recommendation will replace the 2010 Recommendation on Good Practices for Mitigating and Financing Catastrophic Risks and position this legal instrument as the main international guidance on the development of strategies for the financial management of disaster risks.

The consultation documents are available on the OECD website at:  http://www.oecd.org/finance/insurance/public-consultation-drf.htm

A copy of the consultation document is attached here in pdf format for your easy reference. The deadline to submit comments is 15 April 2016. 

The IAA intends to submit a formal response to this consultation. The Joint OECD Subcommittee of the Insurance Regulation Committee (IRC) and the Pensions and Employee Benefits Committee (PEBC) in consultation with the Resource and Environment Working Group (REWG)  will be responsible for formulating a response to the OECD on behalf of the IAA.  The response will be developed in accordance with the requirements of the IAA Due Process for Making a Public Statements and the IRC will be the Committee responsible for finalising the IAA response.

Full Member Associations not represented by a delegate to the IRC or the REWG are invited to nominate observers to the drafting group. Observers will be kept informed of the progress and invited to comment on the draft response. All members of the IRC and the REWG will automatically be included in the group of observers.

We request you to contact Amali Seneviratne (Director Technical Activities) at the IAA Secretariat as soon as possible, but no later than 18 March 2016 if your association wishes to nominate an observer.  Please note that this will be your only opportunity to influence the development of the response as it will not be circulated outside the drafting Subcommittee and the Executive Committee for a vote.

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