International Disaster Compensation Fund: A New International Financial Aid Mechanism

In May 2008, two consecutive disasters shocked the whole world. Both the China earthquake and the Myanmar cyclone forced people all around the world to realize how harsh and merciless the power of nature is. The massive devastation influenced not only the two countries but also the whole world. The world today is highly interdependent. One country’s disaster can spill over to other countries through political and economic channels. There is no disaster limited to one country, and human beings cannot solve the issue of living without mishap when facing a disaster. Therefore, no country can escape by sheer luck from disaster and solve the problem alone. Indeed no country lives in absolute safety. In this case, the whole world should unite together to share the risks. Human beings should work together to face, resist and eliminate risks. But unfortunately, such a kind of system which can effectively deal with natural disaster has never existed. In this situation, we have designed the International Disaster Compensation Fund (IDCF) to give a new idea of how to manage the risk together.