World Food Program Receives $7.9 Million Compensation for Drought Insurance in Syria

The World Food Program, a United Nations agency, received a $7.9 million insurance payout under a drought insurance document in Syria, developed in partnership with "Hawden", "Hiscox", and "Swiss Re".

Matthew Dobrovolny, the program's Senior Financial and Disaster Risk Financing Advisor, explained that "this situation occurs once every 50 years", noting that the activation of the document was based on an assessment of climatic conditions in three Syrian regions, with two meeting the full compensation criteria at 100%, while the third reached 80%.

Dobrovolny added that the idea of this document is part of the program's efforts to expand insurance coverage to include fragile countries outside the usual four regional risk groups.

On the other hand, Gareth Davies, Head of Parametric Solutions at "Hawden", emphasized that the speed of compensation payments is a key element in proving the feasibility of this type of insurance coverage against climate disasters.

This comes as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the harsh climatic conditions witnessed in Syria during the current agricultural season are "the worst in about 60 years", which may push the country to rely more on food imports.

Haya Abu Assaf, Assistant FAO Representative in Syria, pointed out that 2.5 million hectares of wheat-growing land have been affected by drought, exposing more than 16 million Syrians to the risk of food insecurity.