Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. She advocates increasing access to financial services for individuals and businesses globally. As the Special Advocate, she focuses on expanding financial inclusion, responsible lending practices, data collection to monitor progress, and harnessing financial inclusion to support national development goals and the post-2015 agenda. She works closely with international organizations and national governments to promote these issues through global initiatives like the G20 Partnership for Financial Inclusion.

1. UN
Secretary-­‐General’s
Special
Advocate
for
Inclusive
Finance
for
Development
Her
Majesty
Queen
Máxima
of
the
Netherlands
Designated
in
2009
by
the
UN
Secretary-­‐General
as
his
Special
Advocate
for
Inclusive
Finance
for
Development
(UNSGSA),
Queen
Máxima
is
an
active
global
voice
on
the
importance
of
financial
inclusion
for
achieving
development
and
economic
goals.
Her
central
message
is
that
financial
inclusion
enables
and
accelerates
progress
toward
numerous
national
priorities
such
as
job
creation,
equitable
growth,
poverty
alleviation,
health,
education,
food
security,
and
more.
Queen
Máxima
is
also
Honorary
Patron
of
the
G20
Partnership
for
Financial
Inclusion
(GPFI)
since
2011.
Importance
of
financial
inclusion
An
inclusive
financial
system
is
part
of
essential
infrastructure
in
a
given
country,
just
like
roads.
Today,
an
estimated
2.5
billion
people
are
excluded,
and
200
million
SMEs
in
emerging
markets
alone
do
not
have
access
to
adequate
financing.
Queen
Máxima
encourages
universal
access
for
individuals
and
enterprises,
at
a
reasonable
cost,
to
a
wide
range
of
financial
services,
provided
by
responsible
and
sustainable
institutions.
Financial
services
can
help
individuals,
families
and
enterprises
generate
income,
build
assets,
manage
cash
flow,
invest
in
opportunities
and
strengthen
resilience
to
setbacks.
Key
issues
for
advocacy
As
UNSGSA,
Queen
Máxima
focuses
on
five
areas
where
her
input
creates
the
most
impact
and
that
have
the
greatest
potential
to
deepen
financial
inclusion:
• Diverse
financial
services:
Low-­‐income
clients
and
small
enterprises
require
a
variety
of
providers
to
deliver
products,
especially
payments,
savings,
credit,
and
insurance.
• SME
finance
and
skills:
An
important
source
of
employment
and
economic
growth,
small
enterprises
need
access
to
affordable
financial
services
and
business
expertise
to
scale
up.
• Responsible
finance
and
financial
literacy:
Greater
attention
to
consumer
protection
is
building
financial
capability
and
contributing
to
well-­‐functioning,
stable,
financial
systems.
• Complementarity
of
financial
inclusion,
integrity,
and
stability:
Bringing
more
informed
people
into
a
client-­‐oriented,
supervised
financial
system
lowers
risks
and
improves
integrity.
• Financial
inclusion
data:
In-­‐depth,
harmonized
and
comparable
data
supports
national
strategic
planning
and
monitoring,
evidence-­‐based
policymaking,
and
innovative
products.
Current
issues
In
response
to
emerging
needs
and
timely
opportunities,
Queen
Máxima
presently
prioritizes
two
additional
themes
in
her
national
and
global
policy
dialogues
on
financial
inclusion:
• Post-­‐2015
development:
The
emerging
agenda
should
address
how
financial
inclusion
can
enable
and
accelerate
inclusive
economic
and
human
development.
• National
strategies:
Together
with
government
leadership
and
coordination
a
strategy
can
harness
the
power
of
financial
inclusion
to
accelerate
national
development
goals.

2. Approach
The
UNSGSA works
in
partnership
with
stakeholders
globally
to
raise
awareness
and
foster
action
toward
financial
inclusion.
Through
conversations
with
low-­‐income
clients,
SME
owners,
practitioners,
and
government
leaders
in
dozens
of
countries,
as
well
as
with
the
United
Nations,
International
Monetary
Fund,
World
Bank,
financial
standard
setters
and
thought
leaders,
Queen
Máxima
has
gained
a
unique
and
strategic
view
of
financial
inclusion.
She
emphasizes
the
importance
of
complementarity
and
cooperation
among
global
and
country-­‐led
initiatives,
and
of
engaging
all
relevant
stakeholders
in
the
process.
The
Queen
seeks
to
stimulate
the
dialogue
on
inclusive
finance
for
development
through
speeches,
meetings,
country
visits,
and
interviews.
As
Honorary
Patron
of
the
G20
GPFI,
Queen
Máxima
works
with
governments
and
partners
to
advance
the
G20
Action
Plan
on
Financial
Inclusion,
the
specific
country
commitments
to
national
strategies
made
at
the
G20
Los
Cabos
Summit,
and
to
build
further
coherence
between
national
and
global
efforts.
Main
Partners
and
Office
As
UNSGSA,
Queen
Máxima
collaborates
closely
with
an
advisory
Reference
Group
of
leading
international
organizations
in
the
field
of
financial
inclusion
and
many
other
partners
in
countries
and
around
the
world.
Together,
these
partners,
help
convert
advocacy
into
action.
Members
of
the
Reference
Group
include:
the
Alliance
for
Financial
Inclusion
(AFI);
The
Bill
&
Melinda
Gates
Foundation;
the
Consultative
Group
to
Assist
the
Poor
(CGAP);
the
International
Finance
Corporation
(IFC);
the
UN
Capital
Development
Fund
(UNCDF);
the
UN
Development
Programme
(UNDP);
the
UN
Department
of
Economic
and
Social
Affairs
(UNDESA);
and
the
World
Bank.
A
small
staff
works
closely
with
Queen
Máxima
and
her
Secretariat
in
The
Hague
to
coordinate
and
advance
her
UN
and
G20
activities
in
the
field
of
inclusive
finance
for
development.
The
Office
of
the
UNSGSA
is
housed
at
UNCDF
in
New
York
and
receives
generous
financial
support
from
The
Bill
&
Melinda
Gates
Foundation.
Financial
Inclusion
in
the
Netherlands
Queen
Máxima
champions
access
to
finance
and
financial
literacy
in
her
home
country,
the
Netherlands.
She
is
a
member
of
the
Dutch
Committee
for
Entrepreneurship
and
Finance
where
she
encourages
coaching,
business
skills
training,
and
small
loans
to
entrepreneurs
starting
or
growing
businesses
in
the
Netherlands.
Queen
Máxima
is
Honorary
Chair
of
the
Money
Wise
Platform,
a
national
partnership
of
banks,
schools,
government,
consumer
organizations,
and
research
institutions
to
promote
financial
literacy.
The
Queen
has
been
a
long-­‐term
advocate
for
financial
education,
most
notably
for
children
and
youth
in
the
Netherlands.
Prior
UN
and
international
experience
Drawing
on
her
previous
professional
experience
in
banking
and
emerging
markets,
Queen
Máxima
served
on
the
UN
Advisors
Group
to
the
2005
International
Year
of
Microcredit.
From
2006
to
2009,
the
Queen
served
on
the
UN
Advisors
Group
on
Inclusive
Financial
Sectors.
She
was
a
member
of
the
Group’s
Executive
Committee
and
chaired
its
Working
Group
on
Advocacy.
In
2008,
she
presented
UN
Secretary-­‐General
Ban
Ki-­‐moon
with
the
Group’s
recommendations,
which
served
as
guidelines
for
legislators,
supervisory
bodies,
development
partners
and
the
private
sector.