This article was originally produced by AFI, a network partner of the G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion competition, as a guest post for Ashoka Changemakers.

Leading policymakers from more than 80 developing and emerging countries created a collective vision for financial inclusion with the release of the Maya Declaration at the 2011 AFI Global Policy Forum in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The declaration is the first global and measurable set of commitments designed to unlock the economic and social potential of the world’s 2.5 billion unbanked population through greater financial inclusion.

Nearly one year after its conception, the institutions that committed to the declaration account for 29 percent of the world’s unbanked population, or 790 million people. And many more AFI members, accounting for 79 percent of the world’s unbanked, are expected to follow.

Although international declarations are commonplace, and rarely translate words into tangible actions, the Maya Declaration has three key characteristics that suggest it is likely to have a significant, tangible impact:

• Measurable commitments in four key policy areas: Institutions are expected to make measurable, publicly accountable commitments in four key policy areas that are proven to increase financial inclusion. Consistent with the G20 Principles for Innovative Financial Inclusion, these four areas include mobile financial services policies and regulations, proportionate regulatory frameworks, consumer protection and education, and data collection.

• The right to self-determination: The declaration recognizes each country’s situation is unique, and that externally-imposed, top-down targets and solutions rarely work. Consequently, institutions have the freedom to determine their own bottom-up targets, based on individual circumstances and policy priorities.

• A collaborative approach, based on new forms of cooperation: The declaration capitalizes on the collective strength of the AFI network in two main ways: first, a commitment to share financial inclusion insights through AFI’s peer-to-peer knowledge-exchange platform; second, it fosters and promotes new forms of cooperation, including partnerships with the private sector.

Why is now the time to act?

There is mounting international recognition that financial inclusion is part of the solution to our current global economic problems, as reflected in the G20’s Los Cabos communiqué in June 2012. Specifically, greater financial inclusion has the potential to stimulate new businesses and new jobs on a massive scale, especially because more than the 90 percent of the world unbanked are located in developing countries, which are widely recognized as the new engines of global economic growth.

In addition, recent technological advances have fueled a surge of interest in financial inclusion. Explosive growth in mobile phone subscriptions in developing nations has lowered the cost of providing financial services to the unbanked.

Furthermore, there is an increasing recognition that new forms of partnership are required to break the mold and accelerate financial inclusion progress on the ground through novel forms of cooperation between different stakeholders, including the private sector.

Beyond the tipping point

AFI offers a wide range of services to assist an organization’s members during the upcoming months and years, from peer review and peer advice, to providing advocacy support toward the full achievement of institutional commitments made under the Maya Declaration. AFI will also regularly monitor and publicly report on the progress of institutions in meeting their commitments.

This year’s AFI Global Policy Forum in South Africa will feature the anticipated debut of the “Maya Declaration Progress Report: Commitments You Can Bank On,” which showcases the remarkable progress achieved by pioneering institutional commitments that were announced last year in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Going forward, financial inclusion must be truly inclusive—bringing together the complementary expertise of a broad cross-section of partners far beyond AFI—to really take off and reap its economic benefits. The Maya Declaration might provide the tipping point for financial inclusion, but everyone needs to push to unlock its full potential.

Click here to learn more about the Maya Declaration.