CCRIF to Provide up to US$150,000 in Scholarships for Academic Year 2020/21 to Caribbean Nationals

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Financing Facility (CCRIF SPC) invites applications for scholarships for 2020/21 to support students pursuing Masters level degree programmes in areas such as disaster risk management (DRM), natural resources management, climate change, civil with environmental engineering, actuarial science, and meteorology, among others.

These scholarships are tenable at universities in the Caribbean, USA, UK and Canada and can be for either online or face-to-face programmes.

CCRIF will provide at least eight scholarships for postgraduate students. These are broken down
as follows:

• 1 extra-regional scholarship of up to US$40,000 for students accepted into a university in the United Kingdom, United States or Canada
• 6 Caribbean scholarships of US$11,000 each for students accepted into the University of the West Indies; University of Technology, Jamaica; Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica; University of Guyana; or University of Suriname
• Special scholarship/s totalling US$11,000 for students enrolled in a new course developed by CCRIF and to be offered through UWI titled Fundamentals of Disaster Risk Financing (with emphasis on CCRIF Parametric Insurance Policies) for Advancing the Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), adapted from CCRIF’s training programme, “Understanding Disaster Risk Financing, CCRIF Parametric Policies and the Relationship with Fiscal and Economic Policy”, and which will be offered for the first time through UWI Open Campus starting in academic year 2020/21

The deadline for applications for the 2020 CCRIF Scholarship Programme is June 15, 2020.

Please visit the CCRIF website at: http://www.ccrif.org/content/scholarship to apply.

Additionally, at the undergraduate level CCRIF will continue to provide through the University of the West Indies (UWI) four undergraduate scholarships per year valued at US$8,000 each (US$4,000 per year for the second and final year) for students registered at one of the UWI campuses and pursuing select degrees related to DRM, civil engineering, geography, environmental management etc. For information on the CCRIF-UWI undergraduate scholarships, visit: http://www.ccrif.org/content/programmes/ccrif-uwi-scholarship. Applications for these scholarships are administered directly by the UWI.

All citizens of CARICOM or CCRIF Caribbean member countries are eligible for these scholarships.

Since the launch of its scholarship programme CCRIF has awarded 77 scholarships to Caribbean nationals totalling US$1.13 million to complete undergraduate or postgraduate programmes at the University of the West Indies and universities in the USA and the UK.

These scholarships are provided as part of CCRIF’s Technical Assistance (TA) Programme which was launched in 2010. The TA programme provides scholarships and internships, small grants to NGOs and CBOs, and supports programmes implemented in partnership with regional organizations to enhance DRM and climate change adaptation.

CCRIF is committed to doing its part in building a cadre of persons who can effectively provide support for comprehensive disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in the region.

While we all face uncertainties in the face of the current COVID-19 crisis, CCRIF anticipates that universities will be able to offer their programmes in August/September 2020 and the CCRIF team will work with scholarship candidates and the universities to enable these young Caribbean nationals to achieve their academic and professional goals.

About the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Financing Facility (CCRIF SPC):

CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and Central American 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 member governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake, hurricane and excess rainfall 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 capitalized through contributions to a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) 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. In 2014, an MDTF was established by the World Bank to support the development of CCRIF SPC’s new products for current and potential members, and facilitate the entry for Central American
countries and additional Caribbean countries. The MDTF currently channels funds from various donors, including: Canada, through Global Affairs Canada; the United States, through the Department of the Treasury; the European Union, through the European Commission, and Germany, through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and KfW. In 2017, the Caribbean Development Bank, with resources provided by Mexico, approved a grant to CCRIF SPC to provide enhanced insurance coverage to the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries and in 2018, the Government of Ireland also provided support to CCRIF.