All India Disaster Mitigation Institute

AIDMI’s vision is to set up a strengthened community of the deprived and excluded citizens who are resilient to hazards, have their own coping mechanisms, are prepared to manage disaster recovery on their own, and have access public resources as their right.

Its mission is to mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) by turning disaster relief and rehabilitation measures into an opportunity for sustainable human security and poverty alleviation by supporting deprived and excluded citizens.

As an operational and learning organization, AIDMI works towards promoting Disaster Risk Mitigation and Adaptation to climate change risk by supporting, capturing, processing and disseminating disaster related information, lessons and innovative ideas as well as conducting stakeholder round tables, trainings of trainers, reviews, evaluations, and pilot projects.

Since the establishment, it has expanded its work over the years to cover nine types of disasters (including natural disasters and man-made disasters) in twelve areas of India and beyond to eight countries in Asia. AIDMI strives to link local communities to national and international levels of risk reduction, relief and long-term recovery policies and programs.

Mihir R. Bhatt studied and practiced architecture and city planning in Ahmedabad and Delhi, India, and later Cambridge and Washington DC, USA. He received Russell E. Train Institutional Fellowship from the World Wildlife Fund, USA (1997 for innovation in institution buildings); Eisenhower Fellowship, USA (2000 for leadership in humanitarian and disaster risk reduction efforts in India); and Ashoka International Fellowship, USA (2004 for social enterprise in mobilising resources). Some of Mihir’s work includes: evaluated tsunami recovery for Disaster Emergency Committee, UK; co-managed Local Capacity theme of Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, UK, advised NGO Impact Initiative of President Clinton’s tsunami recovery office; evaluated Oxfam International response in South India and Sri Lanka; mainstreamed Disaster Risk Reduction UNDP in Sri Lanka; evaluated UNDP’s Disaster Risk Mitigation Project in India covering 169 districts and 38 cities as well as the UN’s unified tsunami response coordinated by the UNDP.

He is a Senior Fellow of Humanitarian Initiatives at Harvard University, USA, full Member of ALNAP and a member of the Civil Society Advisory Committee of Commonwealth Foundation, UK and Author to IPCC’s special report on extreme events. He is also founding member of International Humanitarian Studies Association, Netherlands.

“Afat Vimo” is a disaster insurance product offered by AIDMI, which covers both life and non-life losses. All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) was the first agency in India to design a combination of life and non-life disaster insurance product for disaster victims; through public insurance companies in 2004, supported by the ProVention Consortium. Since the first pilot in Gujarat, AIDMI has pioneered a series of action-learning pilots on disaster micro-insurance across India. The Afat Vimo (disaster insurance) scheme covering 19 types of disasters was first piloted in Gujarat in 2004 and was later extended to 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims in Tamil Nadu, and 2005 earthquake victims in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2011, the pilot scheme was extended to the floods and cyclone victims in Odisha; through Society for Women Action Development (SWAD) with support from European Union in partnership with Concern Worldwide India and later on in 2013 with support of Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) the study on effectiveness of disaster insurance conducted.[2]

The typical Afat Vimo client has assets worth Rs. 13,000 (US$285) with an annual income of Rs. 16,000-24,000 (US$350–525) and owns his/her micro-business. In exchange for a one-time upfront fee worth approximately three-day salary, Afat Vimo provides coverage on losses or damages to house, stock-in-trade, or loss of work due to accident and death of earning family member up to Rs. 75,000 (US$1,900).[3] A follow-up study by AIDMI after Cyclone Phailin found that those who had purchased insurance were able to use the post-disaster liquidity it provided to rebuild their livelihoods. Those who did not have insurance had to hope for government or NGO support, or turn to moneylenders charging steep interest rates, which often locked them into an unsustainable spiral of high-interest debt. By transferring risk to the private sector, micro-insurance increased the capacity of communities to absorb shocks themselves.[4]

Southasiadisaster.net is a publication of AIDMI, naming Southasiadisasters.net (in English), Vipada Nivaran (in Hindi) and Afat Nivaran (in Gujarati). The publication has 176 issues up to Oct 2018, contributed from 692 writers belonging to 582 organizations from India and 39 countries, covering 17 disasters, spanning over 39 themes and 15 important national and international policy discourses. The list of the publications can be accessed from the website of the organisation.