Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, April 8, 2013 – The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has expanded its scholarship programme to include Caribbean universities – in addition to those in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, previously available under the CCRIF Extra-Regional Scholarship Programme. CCRIF now invites applications for its new CCRIF Scholarship Programme for 2014.

CCRIF will provide a maximum of four scholarships for citizens of CARICOM member countries and/or CCRIF member countries who would like to pursue a Masters or an MBA programme in one of the areas identified below which is available at universities in the UK, US or Canada or at eligible regional universities (other than the University of the West Indies – UWI). Note that CCRIF has a special programme with UWI, which provides scholarships at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The CCRIF-UWI Scholarship Programme is administered by UWI.

Eligible programme areas for the CCRIF Scholarship Programme include:

-(Catastrophe) Risk Management

-Property/Casualty Insurance

-Climate Change

-Other hazard/disaster related disciplines

-MBA programme with a major in risk management and/or insurance or a related field

The scholarships are valued at a maximum of US$20,000 each for Caribbean universities or US$40,000 each for extra-regional universities and are specifically for those applicants who would have gained admission to a Masters level programme or an MBA programme fitting the eligibility criteria presented above. Preference will be given to individuals seeking to attend regional universities.

Since 2010, CCRIF has awarded 24 scholarships to students through its Extra-Regional Scholarship Programme, its CCRIF-UWI Scholarship Programme or through its cooperation with member countries and regional organisations. Total disbursements to date are in excess of US$380,000. Scholarship recipients have come from eight Caribbean countries and have gone on to work in the areas of disaster risk management, environmental health, meteorology, climate change and sustainable development, among others.

The CCRIF Scholarship Programme is part of its Technical Assistance Programme, which has been developed to help countries in the region deepen their understanding of natural hazards and catastrophe risk and the potential impacts of climate change. The scholarship component is helping to create a cadre of professionals who are playing a key role in developing national and regional strategies that will lead to improved disaster risk management and increased climate change resilience.

The CCRIF website provides information on the scholarship programme, including detailed eligibility criteria, application requirements and selection criteria. Applications for the CCRIF Scholarship Programme must be submitted via the CCRIF website at: http://www.ccrif.org/content/scholarship no later than May 19, 2013.

For additional information or for clarification, please email us at: [email protected]

About CCRIF: CCRIF is a not-for-profit risk pooling facility, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean for Caribbean governments. It is designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes to Caribbean governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered.  It is the world’s first regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving Caribbean governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake and hurricane catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing.  CCRIF was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan. It was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor Trust Fund by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments. Since the inception of CCRIF in 2007, the Facility has made eight payouts totalling US$32,179,470 to seven member governments. All payouts were transferred to the respective governments within two weeks after each event.

For more information about CCRIF, please visit the CCRIF website at www.ccrif.org or send an email to [email protected]