Reflecting on 15 Years of the UNSGSA Driving Financial Inclusion Impact

As we mark the 15th anniversary of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands' work as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), CGAP CEO Sophie Sirtaine reflects on the significant strides the industry has made in advancing financial inclusion worldwide.

Mobilizing action through global advocacy and country engagement

Having global advocates is important in raising ambitions for causes, from climate action to educational reforms or women’s and children’s rights – but having a dedicated UN Special Advocate to champion financial inclusion has been a privilege of immense significance. Fifteen years ago, half the world was unbanked. The UNSGSA has been a vital champion for inclusive and responsible financial services, bringing more people into the financial system and creating lasting impact for low-income families, micro and small businesses, and women. The effectiveness of the UN Special Advocate role extends well beyond official recognition of financial inclusion at the highest global level; it helps build the global community’s commitment to advancing it worldwide. 

Having global advocates is important in raising ambitions for causes, from climate action to educational reforms or women’s and children’s rights – but having a dedicated UN Special Advocate to champion financial inclusion has been a privilege of immense significance.

When H.M. Queen Máxima began as UNSGSA in 2009, 2.5 billion adults did not have access to the financial services many of us take for granted. The road ahead was clear – the sector urgently needed to elevate financial inclusion as a priority through global advocacy and country engagement. Having a high-profile and credible advocate who worked closely with leading public and private institutions in the financial sector at global and national levels enabled us to make great progress as an industry. 

At the global level, by engaging with standard-setting bodies (SSBs), the UNSGSA enabled financial inclusion to become part of their agenda and supported the creation of a structured cooperation arrangement on financial inclusion for all SSBs, led by the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements. Over the last 15 years, H.M. Queen Máxima has visited 48 countries to encourage and support progress in financial inclusion. These efforts have highlighted how financial inclusion can support the broader sustainable development agenda, including women’s economic empowerment, agricultural productivity, and access to essential services including education and clean energy. These visits have also provided much-needed impulse, through motivating leaders and unlocking technical resources, for progress at the country level. 

The UNSGSA advisory Reference Group — a group of leading organizations in financial inclusion, including CGAP — is an instrumental part in supporting H.M. Queen Máxima’s efforts, both in terms of providing the knowledge and evidence needed to substantiate her global advocacy and supporting her push for progress at the country level. A recently published report by UNSGSA on the foundational building blocks for financial inclusion, which synthesizes lessons collected by Reference Group members over the past 15 years on how to develop more inclusive digital finance ecosystems with an emphasis on the Last Mile, reflects the Reference Group’s support to the UNSGSA’s global advocacy and country-level efforts.

In addition, I’ve had the privilege of accompanying H.M. Queen Máxima on multiple country visits, meeting with low-income communities, government decision-makers, the private sector, and other stakeholders. These consultations and collaborations are essential to helping convert advocacy into meaningful action. 

For example, in Morocco, CGAP worked with H.M. Queen Máxima’s office and other members of the Reference Group to conduct an initial diagnostic and helped put together a policy note on financial inclusion, which highlighted, among others, a large gender gap in inclusion. The policy note was well received by the authorities, and CGAP is now working with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Central Bank to develop and launch a dedicated strategy for women’s financial inclusion as part of the refresh of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. CGAP also led discussions with the Prime Minister’s office on payments digitization directly following the visit – demonstrating how policy dialogue at the highest level can quickly translate into just-in-time advisory work at the technical level. For every country she works with, H.M. Queen Maxima's assessments and recommendations are based on evidence and data (such as Findex data), to enhance the credibility of her dialogue with country clients and enable monitoring of progress.

H.M. Queen Máxima’s tenure has been marked by significant achievements for the industry, and the analytical work done linking financial inclusion to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has provided a robust framework for understanding its broader impact. The ability to bring experts and leaders together around this issue, as well as hold them accountable, has earned the UNSGSA immense credibility in her interactions with governments and policymakers. This has enabled her, and all of us working in the sector, to drive progress at the highest levels in more than 60 countries. Personally, I believe that the UN Special Advocate role has been so effective because of H.M. Queen Máxima’s deep understanding and technical expertise in financial inclusion.

Elevating financial inclusion for broader outcomes

As UNSGSA looks ahead now at improving financial health, it is important to understand the rationale behind this shift. While much of the past decade-and-a-half has focused on access to and usage of financial services, there is ample evidence to show how financial inclusion can contribute to both individual and broader development outcomes. In other words, financial inclusion is not an end in itself; it's a means to an end.

While much of the past decade-and-a-half has focused on access to and usage of financial services, there is ample evidence to show how financial inclusion can contribute to both individual and broader development outcomes.

CGAP is proud to be a leader in this regard, expanding our thinking beyond promoting access, and elevating our collective goals. Our current five-year strategy focuses on the broader development outcomes that financial inclusion can help achieve. For instance, CGAP’s Financial Inclusion 2.0 Initiative aims to move the sector’s discussions and sights away from the mechanics of creating access to finance and toward conversations, and especially ambitions, that are focused on outcomes. We aim to provide stakeholders across the industry with actionable knowledge and tools to better capture and measure the outcomes of financial services. In addition, in collaboration with the UNSGSA and the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), we have developed a conceptual framework highlighting important links between financial inclusion and financial health outcomes.

As the UNSGSA's focus shifts to making financial health a central goal of financial sector policy, the global significance of financial inclusion remains unchanged. Despite progress over the years, the fact remains that 1.4 billion people still don’t have a financial account at a bank, mobile money provider, or other formal institutions. The unbanked are disproportionately women, those on limited incomes, and those living in fragile and conflict-affected areas. The lessons learned and progress made over the past 15 years will continue to inform and guide CGAP’s efforts to make financial ecosystems meet the needs of everyone — including those living in poverty and micro and small firms — to enhance their resiliency to shocks, their ability to seize economic opportunities, their agency, and their participation in a just, green transition. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with H.M. Queen Máxima in her new role and are confident that it will continue to move the needle on financial inclusion and financial health. 

Congratulations, Your Majesty, on an impactful 15 years. CGAP looks forward to building on this legacy and deepening our partnership as we look ahead.