Glossary

Parametric insurance

A type of insurance that does not indemnify the pure loss but agrees before the event to make a payment dependent on an index. Also known as index insurance. (Clarke and Dercon, 2016).

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other key terms

Early warning system

Systems that monitor hazards and share information early, so people can act in time.

Risk retention

When governments retain and finance disaster costs themselves.

Resilience

The ability to withstand shocks, adapt, recover and continue functioning over time.

Covariate shocks

Shocks affecting many households at once where losses are shared across the same community.

Fragility

High exposure to risk combined with weak capacity to cope, often leading to crisis.

Disaster risk financing

Financial arrangements made in advance to pay for disaster prevention, response and recovery.