Queen Máxima paid a digital visit to the community of Alphen aan den Rijn on Wednesday to discuss debt problems and solutions with a local financial foundation.
Queen Máxima was joined by State Secretary Bas van t’ Wout, the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, on three video calls with working groups on how to tackle debt. Their goal was to learn how SchuldenlabNL Foundation is working on this issue and the role of De DienstWijzer in discussions.
According to the Royal House, the first video call discussed “De AmenitiesWijzer. This is a practical tool that provides municipalities, housing corporations and welfare organisations with insight into schemes, funds and allowances for minima and contributes to the prevention of debt and poverty.”
The second video call saw Queen Máxima and van t’ Wout speaking with the local Schuldenlab and how the community has been supported by SchuldenlabNL. The Foundation works nationally throughout the Netherlands to combine public and private partners who can work together to lower debts and work without the burden of financial difficulties.
According to SchuldenlabNL’s official website, “SchuldenlabNL was founded to advance and make sustainable projects that are tested and effective. We do this within the municipality or region where such a project originated and in municipalities that are still searching. Together we use each other’s projects more quickly. Together we make the Netherlands debt-free.”
The third video call saw Queen Máxima and van t’ Wout chatting with people who live in Alphen aan den Rijn and who also have significant debts to their names. The purpose of the call was to discuss “the cause, the impact on their lives, how they, together with the municipality and other stakeholders, are trying to get out of these debt situations, and the role of De DienstWijzer in this.”
De DienstWijzer is a debt-solutions service that provides a local consultant to those struggling with debt to help find solutions on how to get out of debt and what tools are available to them locally.
Van t’ Wout said about De DeinstWijzer, “We would like all municipalities to use this tool. If we scale up proven approaches, not all municipalities need to invent the wheel themselves.”
De DienstWijzer wrote in a blog post about Queen Máxima’s video call, “We were impressed by the commitment that Queen Máxima showed, which shows that this theme is also receiving the national attention it deserves. She is, therefore, a real ambassador in the field of debt prevention, who from now on also has De DienstWijzer on her sights.”
