The Second World Summit for Social Development is taking place in Doha, Qatar, from November 4-6, 2025. At the summit, world leaders reaffirmed that people must remain at the centre of progress, urging stronger global solidarity, social protection, and rights-based policies to end poverty and inequality. Delegates spoke of national efforts — from South Africa’s expanded welfare safety net and Brazil’s drive against hunger to Finland’s trust-based welfare model and Singapore’s inclusive growth approach — highlighting that lasting prosperity depends on equality, dignity, and peace.
Several speakers called for renewed multilateral cooperation, predictable financing, and greater investment in women, youth, and vulnerable groups. Delegates from Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran linked social progress to peace and justice, warning that conflict and sanctions erode development and social cohesion.
The Saint Lucian delegate welcomed the Doha Political Declaration as a framework to “accelerate progress on the SDGs, strengthen implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, and foster inclusive and sustainable development.”
Key initiatives include promoting decent work, making thousands of women permanent employees, establishing a Ministry for Persons with Disabilities, ensuring free maternal and child healthcare, expanding social housing and pensions, and providing early childhood and tertiary education.
The summit concluded with calls to turn the Doha Political Declaration into concrete action to ensure that “no one is left behind.”
