David Symington

Policy Specialist
UN Secretary-General

David Symington is a Policy Specialist at the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. He works with the team to develop HM’s agenda on technology enabled innovation in financial services. David has ten years of experience advancing financial inclusion, including five years with the World Bank. He moved to New York from London where he was a Senior Consultant at Oxford Policy Management (OPML) focused on digital financial services policy. Before joining OPML, David worked for three years in East Africa for the World Bank and as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow embedded in the Government of Zanzibar’s Ministry of Finance as an advisor. An Irish and British national, David has undertaken financial inclusion projects and policy research across eastern and southern Africa, China, Pakistan, Mexico, Somalia, and Tajikistan. He authored policy papers and other publications on financial sector development. He holds a master’s degree in economics and international development from the Johns Hopkins University (USA) as an Irish Fulbright, Leverhulme Trust, and JFK Fund scholar and was awarded a first class honours bachelor’s degree in finance from Queens University of Belfast (UK).