In the aftermath of disaster, all policies zero-in on relief and rehabilitation measures. Increasing the coping capacity of the victim also remains a cause of concern but always plays a second fiddle. Women, more vulnerable to such hazards, often receive little attention for their specific needs. This paper highlights some issues related to the vulnerability of women and underlines the role of microinsurance in enhancing the coping capacity of the affected people in general and women in particular. It is also true that making the poor and downtrodden aware of the benefits of microinsurance and collecting a regular premium from them is an uphill task. The paper makes a humble attempt to come up with a few proposals to make such a scheme work with the bankable and creditworthy poor. The roles of SHGs, active NGOs national and international insurance companies need to be highlighted. It also incorporates the successful case studies of Vimo SEWA of Gujurat, CSD of Nepal and WWF of Southern India, and observes that their action can be emulated in other disaster vulnerable areas.

Post-disaster resilience building was largely viewed only in terms of relief and rehabilitation after the event. Of late, planners and policymakers have realized that pre-disaster preparedness and a strategic policy of disaster management should be taken up to mitigate the effects of disaster. Yet, such steps are of short-term impact and are easily washed away in the event of another disaster. The latest status report on disaster management released by the ministry of home affairs, the nodal agency for disaster preparedness observes: "Going beyond the historical focus on relief and rehabilitation after the event, we now have to look ahead and plan for disaster preparedness and mitigation - mitigating the impact of disaster must be an integral component of our development planning and be part of our poverty reduction strategy (GoI, 2004)". This underlines a wide range of management strategies, ranging from awareness generation to risk transfer, economic planning and preparedness - physical, financial and institutional, all as ex ante mechanisms. Little emphasis is given on long-term factors like insurance or long-term resilience building. Now, the international community has placed strong emphasis on disaster prevention. This exhibits the potential of insurance as an effective ex ante strategy to mitigate risk.

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