Project profile — Support to African Risk Capacity Replica Programme

This project seeks to improve climate resilient economies in 11 developing African countries. Project activities include: (1) providing training to national stakeholders on gender-responsive climate and disaster risk financing tools, including gender-specific modules; (2) purchasing insurance policies to ensure gender-equitable coverage against specific climate risks; (3) providing tailored assistance funded by the climate risk financing mechanism to climate-affected vulnerable women, men, girls and boys affected by the climate. This project directly benefits women and men who are vulnerable to climactic shock.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced gender-responsive risk financing and protection mechanisms in developing countries to protect women and men against climate risks; and (2) built capacity for climate-vulnerable women and men to maintain food security and protect their livelihoods in the case of climatic shocks. The project seeks to achieve these objectives through nature-positive early action interventions funded by climate risk finance mechanisms.

Results achieved as of March 2025 include: (1) insurance coverage protected 1,835,536 vulnerable people in 10 African countries (2024 to 2025). This includes Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, The Gambia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; (2) insurance payouts in Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Zambia, and Zimbabwe allowed WFP to deliver life-saving assistance to 527,677 people. Support included 7 or 30-day food kits or cash transfers tailored to local food needs such as rice, sorghum, beans, oil, and pulses. This helped the communities to cope with tropical cyclones and droughts; (3) launched gender-responsive reforms in Somalia and Mozambique. These countries were selected as pilot countries to test gender-sensitive disaster risk financing. In Somalia, a climate-sensitive gender analysis revealed that women had limited access to early warning systems and were excluded from decision-making. In Mozambique, consultations highlighted barriers faced by women and persons with disabilities in accessing risk financing and information. Both countries developed targeted work plans focused on inclusive planning, capacity building, and gender-disaggregated monitoring.