Senegal to receive aid payouts from drought insurance - spokesperson

Assistance may include cash grants and food supplements such as enriched flour to lactating women and children under 5, the spokesperson said. Aid organisations and governments are working with insurers to create policies which release money more quickly after natural disasters.

Senegal is due to receive around 330,000 pounds ($400,500) in insurance payments from aid organisations to protect against the risk of drought, a spokesperson for the aid groups said on Thursday. The insurance taken out by the Start Network group of humanitarian nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) was triggered on Monday at the end of the rainy season, in anticipation of drought next year, the spokesperson said by email.

The money will likely be released by the end of the year to tackle food insecurity in Senegal. Assistance may include cash grants and food supplements such as enriched flour to lactating women and children under 5, the spokesperson said.

Aid organisations and governments are working with insurers to create policies which release money more quickly after natural disasters. A G7-led plan dubbed "Global Shield" to provide funding to countries suffering climate disasters was launched at the U.N. COP27 summit last week.

UNICEF and broker Willis Towers Watson last week launched a programme, funded with support from the German and British governments under the Global Shield programme, to provide rapid financial response to tropical cyclones in eight countries. The scheme targets 15 million climate-vulnerable children, young people and women, Willis Towers Watson said.

The UNICEF programme also includes upfront investment in climate resilience. ($1 = 0.8239 pound)