Summer School: Micro Health Insurance in Developing Societies – Protection for the Poor? The Example of India

September 18th - October 3rd, 2011
New Delhi, India

Illness is considered as one of the most common reasons for poverty. This is particularly true for developing societies with a lack of social security mechanisms regarding incidences of illness and the costs involved. Micro health insurance schemes seem to be a promising contribution to a potential solution for this problem. For a relatively small premium, they offer defined protection against financial consequences of illness. Following recent estimations, approximately 40 million people worldwide are already protected against costs of illness by micro health insurance schemes and the market is growing continuously.

Despite its increasing global importance and its potentials for development politics, there is still a lack of profound academic education in the area of micro health insurance. Due to this reason, an international consortium of partners both from academics and practice in this field has come together to implement a summer school on the subject of micro health insurance schemes. The summer school combines theoretical lessons and urban study trips taking place in Delhi (India) with field visits at micro insurance sites in rural areas of Northern India (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar). The two-week course is scheduled for late summer 2011.

It was a great experience to get an insight of Micro Health Insurance in theory and practice. Please download our experience report to get more information.

Summer School - Time and Place

Week 1 (Sep 18th - Sep 25th), New Delhi

• Introduction to micro health insurance:
  various talks by scientists and practicing experts
• Urban site visits in Delhi related to micro health insurance

Week 2 (Sep 26th - Oct 3rd), rural Northern India (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar)

• Field visits at micro health insurance sites in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, rural Northern India
• Discussions with insured households, regional providers of micro health insurance schemes and local healthcare providers

Information event
May 23rd, 2011, at 6 p.m., Patrizia Tower, Venloer Str. 151 - 153, room 1010

Organizer

ProfessionalCenter, University of Cologne, Germany
The ProfessionalCenter prepares students for working environment - cross-faculty and in direct contact with business. Various forms of extracurricular activities have been developed to enable students to look „beyond the rim of their teacup”.

Department for Cooperative Studies, University of Cologne, Germany
During the last years, the Department for Cooperative Studies, headed by Professor Dr. Hans Jürgen Rösner, has been building up outstanding expertise in the field of sustainable micro insurance schemes and development politics and has developed into an internationally recognized research institution in this area.

Micro Insurance Academy, New Delhi, India
The Micro Insurance Academy (MIA) is one of the leading non-governmental organizations in the field of micro insurance. MIA - in a unique way - unites research and implementation and offers training as well as consulting for all kinds of organizations which are involved in micro insurance.

Scientific Direction
Prof. Dr. Hans Jürgen Rösner, Department for Cooperative Studies, University of Cologne
Prof. Dr. David M. Dror, Chairman Micro Insurance Academy, Delhi

Participation Conditions

The summer school is open for students of University of Cologne, Germany, from all departments and all fields of study. It aims at bringing together young people who are interested in development politics and health provision for the poor and who would like to learn about innovative and co-operative approaches in this area. Expertise or previous knowledge in this area is not required.

Costs
Participants are required to pay for their flight and visa, as well as - partially - for board and lodging.
(Costs for course, board, lodging and travelling within India will be partly subsidized by the organizers and sponsors.)

Flight, visa, and - if wished - insurances have to be organized (and paid) by the participants individually.

For course, board, lodging, and travelling within India a lump sum of EUR 400 needs to paid prior to Summer School until Mid-August.
(This fee does also include a small touristic programme including a visit of the Taj Mahal as well as some sightseeing activities within Delhi. In case that expenses will be lower, the corresponding amount will be reimbursed after Summer School.)

Application
To apply please send your CV together with a letter of motivation (both in English language) to Dr. Katja Roth. Letter of motivation should be no longer than two pages.

Application deadline will be June 12th, 2011.

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Contacts
Department for Cooperative Studies, University of Cologne
Dr. Katja Roth: katja.roth@uni-koeln.de
Christina May: christina.may@uni-koeln.de, Tel.: 0221/470-2646

ProfessionalCenter, University of Cologne
Sarah Wirtherle: sarah.wirtherle@uni-koeln.de, Tel.: 0221/470-2629

Summer School is kindly supported by:
WGZ-Bank
Akademisches Auslandsamt

More about India

Lecture
If you would like to gain some background knowledge about Indian society and business, there is an opportunity to attend the lectures of visiting Professor G. Palanithurai from India:
"Business and Education in India" (Hauptseminar Wirtschaftspädagogik, Center for Modern Indian Studies)
Dates: May 6th, 13th, 20th, June 6th and July 1st
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: Patrizia Tower, Venloer Str. 151-153, room 1041

Summer School at Indian Week
From 4th until 11th of June 2011, the 3rd "India Week" will take place in Cologne. At the 8th of June, University of Cologne will present all its India-related activities and we are on board to present the Summer School. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., we will have a stand at Neuer Senatssaal, Main Building, University of Cologne. We would be happy to meet you there. It is also a good opportunity to learn more about all other India-related activities at the university. Furthermore, the program at the other days of "India Week" also does look promising.

Please visit the Website of the "Indian Week" for further information regarding the "India Week" and "India Day" of University of Cologne