On March 13, 2024, CCRIF SPC, in collaboration with the Cayman Islands Government, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and The University of the West Indies (UWI), launched Ivan+20 in Grand Cayman, under the theme: Ivan+20: Remembering the Past, Reflecting on the Present, and Visioning for the Future: 20 Years Since Ivan... Resilience, Adaptation, Sustainability in Caribbean SIDS.
The Ivan+20 Initiative is being spearheaded by CCRIF in collaboration with Caribbean governments and regional organizations to collectively restate our commitments to ensuring that we never forget and adopt the lessons learned from Hurricane Ivan, push forward, take charge, and create the resilient and sustainable future we want. Ivan+20 will include a year-long series of events and engage Caribbean governments, regional organizations, academic institutions, civil society organizations, the private sector, youth and children as well as the general public.
The Ivan+20 concept is therefore much more than a remembrance of Hurricane Ivan which in 2004, devastated 9 countries in the Caribbean, causing loss of life, destruction of houses and communities, homelessness, damage to infrastructure – including electric utilities transmission and distribution systems, and resulting in regional losses of over US$6 billion.
CCRIF is a by-product of Hurricane Ivan: CCRIF as an organization and the introduction of parametric insurance in the Caribbean were born out of Ivan. Following Hurricane Ivan, CARICOM Heads of Government approached the World Bank for assistance to design and implement a cost-effective catastrophe risk financing mechanism for its member governments that would enable them to access quick liquidity following a natural disaster. The analyses concluded that parametric insurance would be the most suitable disaster risk financing instrument to address this need for quick liquidity and allow governments to meet their most immediate needs following a disaster, including providing support for the vulnerable in their populations.
