Country Visits

The last time the Special Advocate visited Nigeria, in 2012, the country had just launched its national financial inclusion strategy, which laid out a goal of achieving 80 percent financial inclusion by 2020. Since then, Nigeria has made significant progress in a number of areas. Nearly half the… Read more

Maria Teresa Gaytan Lopez, who met the Special Advocate while opening her first bank account at an OXXO convenience store in Mexico City, with Oscar Osorio Martinez, a regular customer.Over the past several years, Mexico has taken steps to modernize its financial… Read more

Within just one generation, Viet Nam has undergone an extraordinary transformation from being one of the world’s poorest nations to achieving lower-middle-income status. While financial inclusion has also increased sharply, the majority of Vietnamese still do not… Read more

Flag of Viet Nam.The UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, H.M. Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, will visit Viet Nam from 30 May through 1 June 2017 to explore paths to progress on financial inclusion. Viet Nam is… Read more

The Special Advocate often observes that financial inclusion is a universal issue, one that needs to be addressed in every country. The situation in Argentina illustrates her point with great clarity. Although Argentina is a middle-income country with the third-largest economy in Latin America,… Read more

Flag of Argentina.From Tuesday 11 to Wednesday 12 October Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will visit Argentina in her role as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). In the capital Buenos Aires she… Read more

Indonesia’s dynamic growth over the last 15 years has helped cut poverty in more than half. Still, 40 percent linger right above the poverty line, their economic prospects in need of further protection. To build further on this progress, the government has made a commitment to extend financial… Read more

Flag of Indonesia.As Indonesia takes increasingly strong steps to build financial inclusion, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA)—H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands—will visit to the country from Tuesday 30… Read more

H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), will visit Pakistan 9–11 February 2016 to promote financial inclusion and support the implementation of the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy. Launched in… Read more

UN logo.H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will visit Bangladesh from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 November in her role as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance at the invitation of the Bangladeshi government. This will be Queen Máxima’s… Read more

In her capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, Queen Máxima will visit the Philippines from 29 June to 1 July. She will meet with a wide range of leaders from public and private sectors and with clients, and will participate in the launch of… Read more

Queen Máxima in Myanmar with the UN Resident Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien. Photo credit: UNDP MyanmarThe UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, has arrived in Myanmar at the… Read more