H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), today held a virtual meeting with her Reference Group of financial inclusion advisors to discuss some of most pressing issues and challenges related to inclusive finance.
This included the significant role digital and financial inclusion continues to play in recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The UNSGSA emphasized that inclusive finance should build financial health and resilience, especially for underserved segments which are crucial for an inclusive recovery. These include small businesses, women and smallholders.
Queen Máxima highlighted that it is critical to enable people to successfully manage day-to-day finances, build resilience, and work towards long-term goals. In line with this, the UNSGSA shared some key outputs from her Financial Health Working Group, such as the release last September of a pair of policy reports to offer guidance for policymakers to better understand and measure financial health.
Additionally, the UNSGSA discussed key highlights related to her advocacy since the group last formally convened during a virtual meeting in April 2021.
At a global level, this included activities at the United Nations General Assembly, the G20 Leaders’ Summit, and with financial standard-setting bodies (SSBs). The Special Advocate also briefed her advisors on learnings and developments from various virtual country engagements.
Finally, among other topics, the advisors shared their inputs on how they could collaborate with the UNSGSA to promote sustainable finance in the context of inclusive finance moving forward.