Inclusive Finance
Financial inclusion is universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services, provided by a variety of sound and sustainable institutions. Inclusive finance strives to enhance access to financial services for both individuals and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. In developing countries, access to financial services is crucial to strengthen financial sectors and domestic resource mobilization and can therefore make a significant contribution to social and economic development.
Despite recent progress, building inclusive financial sectors remains a global challenge. About 2.5 billion adults lack access to formal financial services.
Financial inclusion involves a wide range of financial products that are relevant to poor people and small businesses, including credit, savings, insurance, and payments. It also involves different delivery channels, including microfinance institutions, credit unions, traditional banks, and, increasingly, mobile phone companies or mobile network operators.
Financial inclusion can improve people’s lives by generating income and economic activity, creating jobs, increasing access to social services and protecting people from unforeseen risks Much more focus on the particular financial needs of women can have enormous impact, given the importance of women in food production and household expenditure decisions.
The Monterrey Consensus recognized that “microfinance and credit for micro-, small and medium enterprises… as well as national savings schemes are important for enhancing the social and economic impact of the financial sector”. Similarly, in the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development, world leaders pledged to “strive for diversified, well-regulated, inclusive financial systems that promote savings and channel them to sound growth generating projects.” The General Assembly designated 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit to “address the constraints that exclude people from full participation in the financial sector”. At the World Summit at the United Nations in September 2005, Heads of State and Government recognized “the need for access to financial services, in particular for the poor, including through microfinance and microcredit”.
In 2009, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands as his Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).
The Financing for Development Office works with the UNSGSA and her staff to highlight the importance of financial inclusion within the context of the Financing for Development process.
For more information:
United Nations Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development
Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for Development