The Maya Declaration
The Maya Declaration is a global initiative for responsible and sustainable financial inclusion issued by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion that aims to reduce poverty and ensure financial stability for the benefit of all. It is the first global and measurable set of financial inclusion commitments by developing and emerging economies.
The Maya Declaration is broad in nature, focusing on creating the right environment; implementing the correct framework; ensuring consumer protection measures are taken and using data to inform and track financial inclusion efforts. The declaration was made through AFI's network of financial institutions and, although no vote was taken, its common principles have been implicitly adopted by all the network's members.
History
Since its launch at the 2011 Global Policy Forum in Mexico, members of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion have made concrete financial inclusion targets, continued to implement in-country policy improvements and regularly shared progress updates on the AFI Data Portal. The founding members were:- Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores
- Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP del Peru
- Reserve Bank of Fiji
- Bank of Tanzania
- Banque de la Republique du Burundi
- Banque Centrale de la Republique de Guinee
- Bank of Uganda
- Central Bank of Kenya
- Central Bank of Nigeria
- Reserve Bank of Malawi
- National Bank of Rwanda
Accords over the years
The Maya Declaration laid the groundwork for AFI members to develop and adopt a series of accords, action plans and statements that outline specific goals and target different aspects of financial inclusion over the years.| 2013 | Sasana Accord | Launched at the 2013 AFI GPF in Kuala Lumpur, the Sasana Accord states that financial inclusion policies and strategies will see evidence- and data-based results while also contributing to the accelerated progress and measurement of impact. This makes evidence-based financial inclusion policy a priority by collecting and analyzing comprehensive data, tracking the changing profile of financial inclusion and producing comparable indicators in the network. |
| 2015 | Maputo Accord | Launched at the 2015 AFI GPF in Maputo, Mozambique, the accord supports access to finance for SMEs to promote sustainable inclusive development and spur innovation. The accord followed on from Turkey's G20 Presidency, which made support for SMEs a key theme. |
| 2016 | Denarau Action Plan | Launched at the 2016 AFI GPF in Nadi, Fiji, the action plan focuses on gender and women's financial inclusion, identifying measures that AFI members can take to increase the number of women with access to quality and affordable financial services globally to close the financial inclusion gender gap. |
| 2017 | Sharm El Sheikh Accord | Launched at the 2017 AFI GPF in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the accord recognizes the dual threats of financial exclusion and climate change as key barriers to financial stability. |
| 2018 | Sochi Accord | Launched at the 2018 AFI GPF in Sochi, Russia, the accord commits AFI members to developing regulatory or policy interventions that balance innovation in technology-based financial services with oversight. |
| 2019 | Kigali Statement | Launched at the 2019 GPF in Kigali, Rwanda, the statement aims to accelerate the financial inclusion of disadvantaged groups. |
| 2020 | Statement on Post-COVID-19 Recovery | Launched at the 5th AFI Annual General Meeting in 2020, the statement aims to enhance the network's commitment to restore the momentum and achieve financial inclusion goals through recovery policies following the COVID-19 global health pandemic. |
A decade-long journey
, 10 years after its launch, almost 80 percent of AFI member institutions have made a Maya Declaration commitment. The 73 countries with institutional commitments are represented by 82 institutions that have collectively made 885 targets into the ADP.AFI members include roughly 101 central banks and other financial regulatory institutions from nearly 90 emerging and developing economies.
AFI is committed to supporting its members in fully achieving their commitments to contributing towards more inclusive development and poverty alleviation.
Core values
The Maya Declaration is the first global and measurable set of commitments made by developing countries to increase financial inclusion. It is underpinned by three core values that have sustained the impact of the platform:- Self-determination: Each institution sets its own targets in recognition of the fact that country circumstances vary and that there is no simple, off-the-shelf solution.
- Peer-to-peer knowledge exchange: Harness mutual sharing and collaboration within the network to leverage practical and innovative policy solutions that address financial inclusion challenges.
- International cooperation: Effective knowledge partnerships with policymakers and regulators from developed countries, multilateral corporations, research institutions, private sector and funders to enhancing inclusive finance