Policy Advisor, Inclusive Fin. for Development
UNSGSA
David Symington is a Policy Advisor at the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). In this role he supports the work of Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the UNSGSA, by leading the development of her agenda on technology-led innovations in financial services and her engagement with the global financial standard setting bodies and G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI).
David has over ten years of experience advancing digital financial inclusion, including four years with the World Bank and three years with the UN. He moved to New York from London where he was a Senior Consultant at Oxford Policy Management (OPML) focused on digital innovation in financial services for the poor. Before joining OPML, David worked for three years in East Africa for the World Bank and as an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow in Tanzania.
An Irish and British national, David has undertaken fintech and digital financial inclusion work across eastern and southern Africa, Bangladesh, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Tajikistan. He holds a master’s degree in International Economics and International Development from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a first class honours bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Queens University of Belfast.