The development function of ICMIF was founded in 1963 to help create new or support nascent insurance organisations as well as strengthen existing cooperative and mutual insurers capacity to provide affordable and accessible insurance protections to low income persons and small businesses.

In the last 40 years ICMIF development has been involved in the establishment of 25 cooperative and mutual insurance schemes. Recently ICMIF has commenced cooperation with a number of international and national development agencies. Most notable of these include the regional association of ICMIF, ICMIF Americas (International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation/ Regional Association for the Americas), securing a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in June 2004 to assist insurance schemes in Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Colombia and in 2008 for empowering the Coop-Seguros Cooperative Network in the Dominican Republic. ICMIF is on the steering group for the annual Munich Re Foundation International Microinsurance Conference.

In addition ICMIF is now working in the Middle-East and North-Africa region to help the development of microinsurance schemes based on the mutual and cooperative structure but which also follow the Islamic principles of insurance (takaful). Within its membership ICMIF has currently 21 takaful and retakaful organisations that can assist in setting up such schemes and recently established the ICMIF Microtakaful Support Centre.

Our main objectives are:

• To assist smaller members to grow on a sound financial and technically sustainable basis.

• To work with people-based organisations to identify and  establish cooperative insurance schemes for the benefit of their members

• To improve access to insurance for excluded sectors of society (be they excluded due to financial, religious or geographical constraints).