H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands was appointed the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA) in September 2024.

As the global UN special advocate, Queen Máxima focuses on transforming the financial system to support financial health. She brings together private sector leaders, governments, civil society, and international development organizations to accelerate solutions, develop policies, improve measurement, mobilize action, and advance financial health collectively.

The UNSGSA works to empower people with suitable financial products and tools that enhance their ability to meet their daily financial needs, strengthen resilience and protect themselves against risks, save and invest in future goals, and build long-term prosperity and confidence. Her advocacy is informed by first-hand experience gained through country visits and conversations with those most impacted by financial health issues.

Previously, as the UNSGSA for Inclusive Finance for Development (2009–2024), Queen Máxima played a pivotal role in advancing universal access to financial services (reaching 79% by 2024, World Bank Global Findex).

As the Honorary Patron of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (since 2011), Queen Máxima strengthens the synergy between the UN and the G20 in the field of financial health. In July 2025 she was appointed Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Global Finance and Technology Network, a not-for-profit headquartered in Singapore that works to create more efficient, resilient, and inclusive financial systems through global collaboration.

Queen Máxima also works to advance financial health in her home country of the Netherlands. She initiated and is the honorary chair of the Netherlands Financial Health Foundation (SFGN), a public-private partnership working to advance financial health with an ambition to halve the number of financially vulnerable or unhealthy households by 2030. She is also honorary chair of the Money Wise Platform, an initiative of the Ministry of Finance in which partners join forces to prepare people in the Netherlands to make financially sound decisions. Her work in the Netherlands is informed by her global work, and vice versa.