With videoQueen Máxima arrived in Colombia on Sunday afternoon for a visit in the context of her work for the United Nations. Máxima flew to Medellín, the second city in the country, with two scheduled flights. There was no official welcome committee at the airport, as the mayor and the governor were unable to attend at the last minute.
Jeroen Schmale
For safety reasons, the queen did not leave the plane on which she flew from Bogotá to Medellín by plane stairs, but ‘simply’ through the trunk. A staircase then took her to the waiting car procession; Under police and army security, Maxima was driven to her hotel in the city center, where a first meeting with her delegation was scheduled for Sunday evening.
During a transfer at Bogotá airport, the queen had coffee earlier in the day with the Colombian Minister of Finance, whom she will meet again later this week.
This year, Máxima has been a special advocate for the UN for 15 years. She focuses on financial inclusion: giving as many people as possible safe and affordable access to financial services, such as a bank account. In addition, financial health is becoming an increasingly important aspect of its UN work. This concerns, among other things, how much control people have over their daily income and expenses and their resilience to cope with financial setbacks.
Máxima visited Colombia in 2013 with her husband, King Willem-Alexander. That was just after the succession of the throne, when the royal couple visited not only neighboring countries in Europe, but also the countries close to the Caribbean part of the kingdom.
A year later, in her UN role, she traveled to the South American country, where, according to World Bank research, about 60 percent of adults now have access to a bank account (worldwide, that percentage is now above 75 percent). By comparison, in 2011, only 39 percent of adult Colombians had a bank account.
Gender difference
At the same time, the differences in the country are great, the reason for Máxima’s visit: smaller entrepreneurs and farmers and people in remote areas of the vast country have less access to financial services. There is also a gender difference: 64 percent of men have a bank account, compared to 56 percent of women.
On Monday, the Queen will visit three projects in and around Medellín with digital financial services for specific target groups, such as retirees who cannot go to a normal bank, women, small entrepreneurs and farmers. In Bogotá she will meet Colombian President Gustavo Petro and many other dignitaries on Tuesday. She will also open a conference on financial inclusion in the capital on Wednesday.
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