From inclusive finance to financial health
On 25 September 2024 Queen Máxima was appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA) at a special event at the UN in New York. This new role is an extension of her previous work as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (September 2009 to September 2024). On the same day Queen Máxima celebrated her 15-year anniversary as UNSGSA. In her previous capacity she focused on the importance of good access to and safe and affordable use of financial services in order to promote economic development, in particular among low-income groups. Her association with the UN began in 2005 when she became a member of the UN Advisors Group to the International Year of Microcredit.
United Nations: from financial inclusion to financial health
When Queen Máxima took on the role of UNSGSA in 2009, fewer than half of all adults worldwide had access to the financial services they needed to help build a better life. These services range from bank accounts and online payment methods to affordable loans, savings products and insurance policies. Those most disadvantaged by a lack of access to financial services were women, small businesses owners, small-scale farmers and people in underdeveloped areas. Fifteen years on, nearly 80% of adults worldwide now have access to financial services (Global Findex 2021).
As Special Advocate for Financial Health, Queen Máxima will focus on the quality of financial services, enabling people to make optimal use of them. Such services must meet people’s needs and contribute to their financial health. Other international organisations will continue to promote financial inclusion so as to help the remaining 20% of people access financial services and better opportunities for development.
"In a world of economic uncertainty, conflicts and climate upheaval, financial services are critical to help people control their lives and futures. As Special Advocate for Financial Health, Her Majesty Queen Máxima will build upon her vital work to ensure that financial systems can support the dreams, hopes and aspirations of people around the world." - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
Financial health in the Netherlands
Queen Máxima also promotes financial health in the Netherlands on behalf of Stichting SchuldenlabNL, the National Financial Health Coalition and the Money Wise Platform. Her work focuses, among other things, on preventing financial problems through financial education, developing accessible savings products to establish a financial buffer, encouraging openness about financial problems, and identifying problem debt early on and using sustainable solutions to address it. Collaboration between financial service providers, policymakers and businesses is essential in this regard.
G20
Since 2011 Queen Máxima has been honorary chair of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI). In this role she works primarily to strengthen the synergy between the UN and the G20 where universal access to financial services is concerned, calling on her many years of experience to promote inclusive finance worldwide. As Special Advocate for Financial Health, she encourages G20 member countries to develop new initiatives in the area of financial inclusion, with financial health as the desired outcome.
Prior to her current roles for the UN and G20, Queen (then Princess) Máxima was a member of the UN Advisors Group to the International Year of Microcredit in 2005. From 2006 to 2009 she participated in the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors. In 2008 she presented the group’s recommendations to the UN Secretary-General. This core message served as a guideline for legislators, oversight agencies, development partners and the private sector. In 2010 she was honorary chair of the G20 SME Work Group on Data.
Diversity and integration
From 2003 to 2005 Queen (then Princess) Máxima was a member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women’s Participation. The Committee supported the thirty largest municipalities in their efforts to increase participation in society among women from ethnic minority groups. It was chaired by former member of parliament Paul Rosenmöller.
Following that, from 2005 to 2012 she was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chair in Management of Diversity and Integration at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Queen Máxima will continue to devote attention to these themes in the future, not least in the context of her unifying role.