Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who are GRiF’s beneficiaries?

GRiF works through country systems, which means grants are embedded as part of country projects, reaching ultimate beneficiaries on the ground – including farmers, small and medium enterprises, and others who are often disproportionately impacted from disasters – through country‑owned delivery systems.

2. How is GRiF managed?

The World Bank hosts a Secretariat to manage GRiF. The Secretariat includes a Technical Manager and a Trust Fund Manager. The Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP) in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice, acts as the Technical Manager. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) in the Climate Change Group, acts as the Trust Fund Manager.

3. Does GRiF provide insurance?

No. GRiF itself is not a direct provider of insurance or other financial instruments; nor is it a new global risk pool. Rather it will provide financial and technical support to lower the technical and financial barriers preventing countries from accessing and using such instruments.

4. How are funding decisions made?

GRiF funding decisions are based on a set of principles, which include both strategic allocation and technical appraisal. Criteria assessed include country ownership, participatory approach during the project design, technical quality and value for money of the proposed financial instrument(s), and competitive procurement of market-based instruments.

5. What countries does GRiF support?

GRiF support is provided as a priority to the poorest and most vulnerable countries. Support is also available to countries for particularly innovative projects that help test and demonstrate new approaches and instruments. In the first year of implementation, the focus is on countries in Asia and Africa. GRiF donors decide on strategic priorities for resource allocation.

6. How does GRiF crowd in the private sector?

GRiF-financed projects aim to build comprehensive financial packages that include market-based solutions. The ability to directly co-finance risk transfer instruments is an important step towards helping more countries access private-sector risk financing solutions.

7. How will GRiF incentivize risk reduction and preparedness?

By providing early finance, GRiF will primarily enable faster, more cost-effective response and recovery. It will also drive greater disaster preparedness and resilience by both directly investing in and providing incentives for strong national delivery mechanisms such as national disaster funds or safety net mechanisms, linked to the pre-arranged funding. For example, GRiF grants could help scale up disaster-linked social protection mechanisms to better respond to disasters or other shocks under the condition that well-functioning delivery channels are in place. These kinds of measures would also ensure that financing from GRiF is targeted to reach the poorest and most vulnerable.

8. How will GRiF ensure inclusive design and participation?

Preparation of GRiF grants will involve meaningful consultation from all relevant stakeholders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of these instruments. This includes community‑level organizations and civil society, as well as private sector representatives who can inform and champion solutions on the ground. Through its investments, GRiF will put an emphasis on gender sensitivity, for example through the inclusion of gender‑disaggregated data in reporting systems to inform/ modify flow of funds and taking into account gender differences in vulnerability.

9. How will GRiF work in FCV settings?

GRiF will scale up mechanisms tested with disaster risk financing to support pre-arranged finance for other crises. Within the World Bank, GRiF is already supporting the operationalization of the Global Crisis Risk Platform, with an initial grant to support the analytical work to design the Famine Early Action Mechanism (FAM). Additional activities are envisioned in the pipeline to adapt existing climate and disaster risk financing instruments to crisis risk financing instruments and help deploy this in fragile countries. GRiF will also explore partnerships to potentially support partners that work more directly in fragile or conflict situations, such as with the World Food Program, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, or the Start Network.

10. How will GRiF coordinate with risk pools?

Driven by country demand, GRiF could support governments to access existing risk pools, enhance existing risk pools, or in rare circumstances set up new risk pools. In particular, GRiF could co-finance premiums for products from risk pools or serve as a vehicle to finance start-up and operating costs of new risk pools.