About Us

The Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) was established in October 2018 as a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) with over $200 million in pledges from Germany and the United Kingdom, to help countries design and implement financial solutions to manage disasters and climate shocks. GRiF provides finance and technical expertise to develop new pre-arranged financing instruments and help existing ones grow. These financial tools and systems help countries and their people prepare for—and recover more quickly from—the impacts of climate shocks, disasters, and crises.

 

To maximize the impact of grants, financial solutions are designed as part of World Bank projects. Because every sector, every project, and every country can be negatively affected by climate and disaster shocks, GRiF co-finances projects from across sectors, around the world. Grants address the challenges of financial and technical barriers to pre-arranged financial solutions by financing up-front costs associated with protection instruments and by building systems that can rapidly and efficiently channel resources where they are needed, when they are needed. GRiF grants can also finance the development of global public goods that address key research and analytical gaps in the risk financing field.

 

The World Bank, Germany, and the United Kingdom form the GRiF Steering Committee (SC). This serves as the primary governing body, providing guidance and strategic advice on GRiF’s program priorities. The GRiF Secretariat leads work planning and reporting. It also coordinates dialogue with donors. The Secretariat is jointly formed by the World Bank’s Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP) in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation (FCI) Global Practice and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) in the Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice. As a whole, the program contributes to the InsuResilience Global Partnership’s Vision 2025. GRiF also maintains strategic partnerships with other members of the InsuResilience Program Alliance, including the InsuResilience Secretariat and the Centre for Disaster Protection.

 

GRiF has a core focus on bringing private sector expertise and capital to support climate risk management in vulnerable countries. To this end, GRiF is also engaging with the Insurance Development Forum (IDF). GRiF-financed engagements are crowding in the private sector across its projects. To support the transformation of the wider international system, GRiF disseminates lessons learned and in special circumstances also directly invests in efforts to strengthen collaboration and knowledge sharing with other partners. For example, a grant to the Start Network supported the design of the Start Financing Facility to support risk financing for humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). GRiF projects also engage with humanitarian actors in early financing, for example, Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in Southeast Asia, the World Food Program, and other associated agencies.

 

For more information, contact GRiF Secretariat.

hex

GRiF provides grants and technical expertise to help developing countries safeguard development progress and recover more quickly from the financial impacts of climate shocks, disasters, and crises.

Watch the video to learn more
lines
GRiF
GRiF_brochure

GRiF helps countries become more financially resilient to climate shocks and disasters. To learn more about how GRiF works, download our brochure here.

Download
line
GRiF Team
Olivier
Olivier

Olivier Mahul

Manager

Dr. Olivier Mahul is the Practice Manager of the World Bank's Crisis & Disaster Risk Finance (CDRF) unit. He oversees the implementation of the he Global Risk Financing Facility. He has been involved in the development of innovative disaster risk financing and insurance solutions in more than 40 countries and a number of flagship regional initiatives.

Niels Holm-Nielsen
Niels Holm-Nielsen

Niels Holm-Nielsen

Manager
Niels Holm-Nielsen is Head of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Niels joined the Bank in 2006 as a Junior Professional Officer in the Middle East and North Africa Region. He has since held several positions in Disaster Risk Management in the Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa Regions, including most recently as Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist and Global Lead for Resilience and Disaster Risk Management.
Sumati
Sumati

Sumati Rajput

Technical Team Lead

Sumati Rajput is a Financial Sector in the CDRF unit. She co-leads the overall program management of the Global Risk Financing Facility. She has experience working on disaster risk management and risk financing projects is Africa and Asia as well as managing large donor communities and trust fund operations.

Zoe Elena Trohanis
Zoe Elena Trohanis

Zoe Elena Trohanis

Trust Fund Team Lead
Zoe previously worked in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region of the World Bank Group as a Senior Urban Specialist. She has more than 15 years of experience at the Bank in disaster risk management and urban development programs, in both Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and the Pacific. Previously, she worked in the Hazard Management Unit at GFDRR.
Ronette
Ronette

Ronette Jordan

Trust Fund Specialist

Ronette Jordan is a Disaster Risk Management Specialist at GFDRR. She supports the administration of the Global risk Financing Facility through trust fund management and partnership activities. She also served as Advisor to the Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean, extensively covering a range of issues related to climate, disaster risk management and resilience.

Simon
Simon

Simon Hagemann

External Partnership Coordinator

Simon Hagemann works in the CDRF unit. Simon supports reporting, monitoring, evaluation and learning, as well as the strategic development of GRiF. He also has experience working on BMZ where he launched a number of flagship initiatives including the InsuResilience Global Partnership.

Kaavya
Kaavya

Kaavya Krishna

Knowledge Management and Communications Lead

Kaavya Krishna is a Knowledge Management Specialist in the CDRF unit. She leads coordination of the overall communications and learning activities of the Global Risk Finance Facility. She also overseas knowledge management and learning for the CDRF unit.

Penny
Penny

Peijing (Penny) Li

Knowledge Management and Communications Analyst

Peijing (Penny) Li is a Knowledge Management and Communications Analyst in the CDRF. Penny supports the growing knowledge and learning portfolio of Global Risk Financing Facility and its communications strategy.

Claire Simon
Claire Simon

Claire Simon

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist
Dr. Claire Simon is a senior consultant supporting GRiF in the design and use of tools to monitor, evaluate, and learn (MEL) from GRiF investments. Claire has over 16 years of international experience working with complex programs to measure, learn, and adapt based on emerging quantitative and qualitative evaluation research and data.
Lisa Caroline Roberts
Lisa Caroline Roberts

Lisa Caroline Roberts

Gender Specialist

Lisa Roberts is a senior consultant supporting the Global Risk Finance Facility to develop strategies to help countries apply a gender lens when designing and implementing financial solutions to manage shocks. Lisa has over 20 years of international experience working on policy and programs that seek to address social dimensions of disaster risk management.