19 to look for subsidies from donors every year,” Maonde points out. She explains how Start Network is equipped to provide on-the-ground support to ARC. “Working directly with governments, we help create awareness and present evidence on the benefit of transferring part of the risk to ARC’s instruments. In some countries where the programme has evolved, we conduct joint awareness initiatives for parliamentarians and media experts to help raise awareness and encourage sovereign states to ratify the ARC programme.” Maonde highlights the fragmentation of similar initiatives across Africa. She says Start Network is trying to combat these isolated projects by introducing synergies between entities working towards a common goal. “We’re also trying to link to sustainability by contributing to national infrastructure, such as rainfall monitoring stations, so that ARC’s work is not viewed as simply a project. We have to contribute to building national systems that are sustainable and useful beyond the ARC component.” She says ARC Ltd.’s anticipatory action pilots are of particular interest to Start Network. “We strongly support the layering of anticipatory actions before impacts, and this is a potential area of collaboration. Product diversification is also critical to cover more Africans, and while drought has been our main entry point, it’s not the only product that interests us. We continue to follow ARC’s work closely.” Start Network also utilises ARC Ltd.’s parametric insurance as an additional humanitarian financing instrument. “The main benefits are that it increases available funding and pays out quickly following a disaster, allowing us to assist more populations, while providing financing for our activities,” Diallo says. Maonde explains that some countries have multiple policies, such as Somalia, which has coverage for two agricultural seasons. “We received a payout for Somalia in the first quarter of 2023 for their second season that runs from October to January. We were reviewing this recently and were pleased to note that we were on track with the timing – from the release of the funding to implementation and completion.” LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024 The success of the Replica programme to build climate resilience relies on more member states signing up, Maonde says, but they are seeing progress with countries like Malawi returning to use ARC Ltd.’s offerings. “But there’s more demand for funding for humanitarian action, more dependency on mobilising resources from donors and it’s not always working. Insurance coverage to solve the problem of limited financing when disaster strikes is competing with the needs of the traditional donor infrastructure. We need to be aware of what is not working and keep promoting disaster risk financing.” Diallo suggests that ARC Ltd. could explore regional risk assessments and solutions, given that disasters and risk transcend borders. “Instead of selling policies individually to governments, ARC could look at selling policies to cover high-risk areas,” he says. “While ARC has made much progress regarding the risk pools in a very short time, there is no Replica programme in Asia or the Caribbean, so the possibility exists to leverage off the experience in Africa and work with other continents to improve or build similar mechanisms”. Diallo also feels more collaboration is needed beyond the continent, starting with something as simple as extending the annual retreat invitations internationally. “We’ve seen that disasters and risks are global, and we should try to have a holistic and global approach. ARC has a leadership role in Africa, and it would be interesting to see how they can bring all the different actors together.” REP L I CA PARTNER I NTERV I EW: START NETWORK
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