In an effort to enable organizations to predict and mitigate the worst effects of a drought, Start Network has signed a new climate risk insurance policy. This insurance will protect up to 160,000 people in Senegal from the effects of drought.

The $1.5 million policy was underwritten by Start Network and its member partners including Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, Plan, Oxfam and World Vision, with the financial subsidiary of Mutuelle panafricaine de gestion Disaster Risk Management (ARC Limited). This new policy for 2021/22 complements that taken out by the Senegalese government, in order to protect as many people as possible, i.e. a total of more than 500,000 people. Unlike other insurance which pays a premium after a disaster, this insurance is 'parametric' i.e. payout is paid before a crisis, based on pre-agreed scientific trigger thresholds like, for example, precipitation data.