H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will participate in a fireside chat at the FMO Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank’s Future of Finance conference in Amsterdam on 3 October 2023. She will attend in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).
The Future of Finance conference attracts more than 500 leading finance professionals from over 60 countries. This is the first in-person version of the conference in five years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fireside chat will focus on three of the UNSGSA’s key policy priorities, including inclusive digital finance, financial health, and inclusive green finance (IGF). The moderators for the session featuring Queen Máxima will be Esther Njoroge, FMO Financial Inclusion Manager, and Ikenna Azuike, independent journalist and documentary maker.
The Special Advocate will reflect on the progress made on financial inclusion, with specific reference to the digital public infrastructure needed to make significant progress in facilitating access to the formal financial system. Given the pace of digital innovation, the UNSGSA will emphasize the importance of mitigating risks associated with new technologies, particularly for traditionally underserved groups including women and smallholder farmers.
The UNSGSA will also discuss financial health, specifically how financial institutions can take leadership in ensuring services allow households to smoothly manage their current financial obligations and have confidence in their financial future.
Finally, the fireside chat will turn its attention toward inclusive green finance. The UNSGSA will focus on the important role of the private sector in offering responsible financial products, such as insurance or savings, that increase people’s financial resilience to climate shocks, along with opportunities for adaptation. More than 1 billion of the world’s 1.4 billion unbanked adults live in the most climate-vulnerable countries (Inclusive Green Finance: A Policy and Advocacy Approach, UNSGSA Office, 2023).
The 30-minute fireside chat will begin at 5 a.m. (EST) / 11 a.m. (CEST). For more information, click here to visit the Future of Finance website.