UNSGSA Queen Máxima to Attend 77th UN General Assembly to Promote Financial Inclusion

UNSGSA Queen Máxima at the UN General Assembly in 2021
UNSGSA Queen Máxima is pictured during the UN General Assembly on 23 September 2021. Photo credit: Richard Koek

H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), will attend the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 21 September in New York.

The Special Advocate is scheduled to meet with representatives from various countries, along with other leaders from the UN and the private sector, to help advance and support their financial inclusion priorities.

It is expected that the UNSGSA will discuss new opportunities to collaborate to reach priority segments, such as the poor, women, smallholder farmers, and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Financial health, building a digital economy for all, consumer protection, and data – including the UNSGSA’s insights on the recently launched World Bank Global Findex database – are anticipated to be covered across dialogue. The UNSGSA will also highlight the continuing importance of financial inclusion to ongoing recovery efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to mitigate future economic and climate risks.

The Special Advocate will convene her Reference Group for its first in-person meeting since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, too. This group is comprised of leading international organizations in financial inclusion, which share expertise and suggest strategic opportunities that Queen Máxima can help advance through advocacy and partnerships.

Further, the UNSGSA is scheduled to be an honorary speaker at the UNGA side-event, “The Future of Digital Cooperation: Building resilience through safe, trusted, and inclusive digital public infrastructure,” at 1:30pm (EST) and can be live streamed at UN Web TV. The event is co-hosted by members of the Digital Public Goods Alliance (Estonia, Germany, Norway, Sierra Leone, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and UNDP) together with Smart Africa and the World Bank. The Special Advocate will also participate in a fireside chat with PayPal President Dan Schulman at the invite-only “5th Annual Leaders on Purpose CEO Summit” at 5:00 pm (EST).