In The Gambia, gender gaps continue to limit women’s access to and control over productive resources, as well as their financial inclusion, which affects their vulnerability and resilience to the increasing frequency and intensity of climate disasters. Gender-specific challenges related to social norms and women’s reproductive roles result in differential impacts and coping mechanisms when faced with drought, flooding and extreme heat in this climate-vulnerable nation. These factors have implications for women’s potential to benefit from existing sovereign-level Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI), as well as for their access to and use of micro- and meso-level CDRFI products intended to provide financial protection from these increasing risks. As the micro- and meso-level market for Climate Risk Insurance (CRI) is developing, there is a real risk that women’s distinct realities and needs are not accounted for in the design and implementation of these solutions. But the nascent stage of development also presents opportunities to embed such gender and other inclusion considerations into the design and operationalisation of these financial products, policies, and programmes from the get-go.
The Gambia’s Request for Support (RfS) under the Global Shield against Climate Risks identifies cross-institutional capacity building as a priority area of intervention to improve collaboration, data sharing, gender-responsive interventions, gender-disaggregated data, oversight, and budgeting across key climate and disaster risk management institutions. To enhance the technical competencies for inclusive and effective delivery of CDRFI instruments, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) in The Gambia, with support from the Centre of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions (CoE), organised a two-day introductory training for key CDRFI institutions in the country with the aim of enhancing awareness on the necessity to integrate gender considerations into CDRFI-related policies, programming, and instruments; and gathering stakeholder inputs on how gender and CDRFI considerations can be effectively reflected in the future NDMA Gender Policy.
The training was conducted on 4 and 5 November 2025 in Serrekunda, The Gambia and counted 46 participants from various institutions.
Moving from good gender intentions to good gender practice will require an action plan for the NDMA gender policy.
The NDMA draft gender policy direction is well-received, although feedback suggests that the draft needs to be finalised to better reflect the gender inclusion challenges and align with the government’s national gender policy. For example, the policy content needs to: acknowledge the gendered barriers in access to information in early warning systems; recognise the financial inclusion context and barriers associated with beneficiary payouts using CDRFI mechanisms in disaster response; and set out an approach to address the broader sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) risks associated with disaster contexts. Once the content is finalised and validated through further stakeholder consultation, it will be key to translate these intentions into practice. Doing so will require the government to invest in resources and an operational plan, supported by step-down capacity-building on the rationale for the policy and concrete practices to ensure the policy vision is realised.
The contingency plan for The Gambia’s African Risk Capacity (ARC) drought policy is an immediate priority for a gender review to ensure that the benefits of any payouts reach vulnerable women as well as men.
The country’s ARC drought policy is the most tangible and realistic starting point for policymakers for operationalising the integration of gender considerations into CDRFI. This is because there is greater familiarity and experience with this macro-level CDRFI mechanism than at the micro-level, where the insurance market remains nascent. NDMA’s commitment to gender, the existence of such an insurance policy, and a clear articulation of the gendered needs of vulnerable communities present an opportunity. The contingency plan can be examined through a gender lens as it seeks to prevent negative coping strategies, such as withdrawing children from school, selling productive assets, and reducing nutritional food intake. Stakeholder concerns related to gender gaps in financial inclusion, with implications for payout access, and gender-based violence during disasters, can be addressed in this operational planning process and in any final implementation plan if the ARC policy triggers. This will require sex-disaggregated data to be collected and analysed to inform the planning process and evaluate any impacts of payouts, when they occur.
There is a need for market development, demand-side research, and involvement from the insurance supervisor to deliver gender-responsive micro- and meso-level CRI solutions.
There is an undeveloped market for micro- and meso-level CRI in The Gambia. As the private sector and development partners work to develop inclusive CRI products through Global Shield support, there will be a need for continued capacity-building on the gender dimensions of CRI and for women-targeted demand-side research on potential barriers to access, use, and willingness to pay for CRI. This capacity building will need to target the insurance supervisor to create the enabling environment, as well as CRI providers on the supply side. This is because of the critical consumer protection role the insurance supervisor can play in incentivising such inclusive market development initiatives and encouraging gender-inclusive CRI distribution approaches and product features. Moreover, there is a clear need to simultaneously promote consumer education and insurance literacy campaigns to build women’s and men’s consumer awareness of how parametric CRI works and the benefits it can provide. Doing so will not only tap into the latent demand for risk transfer mechanisms to manage climate risks but also ensure such CRI business models intentionally address gendered barriers to CRI access and usage in their design and distribution strategies.
The CoE achieved its objective as 100% of participants surveyed stated that the training increased their knowledge and understanding of the gender dimensions of CDRFI. Back at their desks after the training, participants need to apply the insights and skills they gained in the workshop and discussions. As a first step, the content of the NDMA should include CDRFI mechanisms and reference key gender entry points for gender-responsive implementation, followed by a policy consultation and validation by stakeholders from government, NGOs/CSOs, and actors in the CDRFI landscape in The Gambia.
This highlights a clear need for further capacity building, particularly to support stakeholders in translating theoretical guidance on gender-responsive CDRFI into practical, operational approaches that can be effectively realized in their work. In doing so, they can build on these three key insights to effectively address the needs and vulnerabilities of women and men through CDRFI instruments. Such engagement is critical to realising a vision for inclusive access, usage, and benefit from CDRFI to build resilience to climate change and disasters.
© 2026 Center of Excellence
