Second World Summit in Doha Must Advance Humanity’s Fight against Structural Inequalities, Speakers Tell Commission for Social Development
At one of two panel discussions held today by the Commission for Social Development, speakers stressed that the Second World Summit for Social Development must advance humanity’s fight against structural inequalities by promoting quality employment for young people, closing digital divides, addressing the challenges of ageing populations and tackling the climate crisis.
The Commission — established in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council as one of its functional commissions — advises the United Nations on social development issues, and its sixty-third session will run through 14 February.
The first panel discussion, titled “Preparations for the World Social Summit under the title of the Second World Summit for Social Development”, focused on the specific needs of various regions ahead of the meeting to take place in November in Doha. Panellists provided updates collected via various regional consultations and underscored the global summit’s unique opportunity to reset global priorities and build a more sustainable future for all.
Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, moderated the panel. “The state of play looks good, but then I ask myself if I were to describe it in two words I would say, not good,” he emphasized. Around 300 million people will still be living in poverty by 2030 if the world continues the same trajectory.
“Unless we act with foresight, the gaps we seek to close will only deepen,” said Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). For the Arab region, social development cannot succeed unless conflict and displacement are addressed. “Social policies must be designed for resilience,” she went on to stress. The Arab region also faces a growing divide between the skills needed for emerging industries and those currently being developed through the education system. The Summit in Doha must ensure employment policies are fit for the future. The political declaration to come out of that meeting must promote policies that enable all generations to contribute meaningfully to economic and social progress. The digital divide in the Arab region remains significant, she also underscored, noting the gap between men and women, and urban and rural communities.
Laura Thompson, Assistant Director-General for External and Corporate Relations, International Labour Organization (ILO), said that the opportunity to renew the global social contract should be an invitation to all Member States to uphold social justice principles. “Technological innovations create both challenges and opportunities, and monitoring their impact and optimizing their potential for decent work creation is critical,” she added. One in five young persons in the world is neither in employment, education or training. The rate is almost 26 per cent for young women. “This is a personal drama for the young person concerned, but also a waste of assets for national development plans,” she added.
Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, Director, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), said that environmental degradation, including climate change and biodiversity loss, is widely recognized as a cross-cutting issue affecting livelihoods, health and equity. More specifically in Africa, formality, lack of social protection and labour rights, youth unemployment, gender inequality and climate change are all considered to be major challenges. Meanwhile, Asia faces significant structural challenges, including a digital device, ageing population and climate related risk. For Latin America and the Caribbean region, structural inequalities, backlash against progressive policies, weakened democratic governance and climate change risk are challenges most identified. The political declaration must mobilize resources towards achieving universal rights to ensure access to adequate income and social assistance.
Srinivas Tata, Director of the Social Development Division of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said that the region is undergoing an unprecedented demographic transition. The number of older persons — 65 years or above — is expected to nearly double from 500 million in 2024 to almost 1 billion in 2050. “Yet, there are many countries in the region which are still having a youth bulge, and so we also need to pay specific attention to the needs of the youth,” he added. It is estimated that 42 million people in the region were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020 compared with pre-pandemic levels. “We really suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added, expressing alarm that in many countries in the Asia region fewer than 50 per cent of the population are covered by any form of social protection.
Rodrigo Martinez, Senior Social Affairs Officer, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said that all people must achieve a life free of poverty and have access to economic growth and freedom and dignity. Every person must be able to fully exercise their economic, social and cultural rights. “Poverty and hunger are two persistent but surmountable scourges,” he added. “Inequality, in its multiple dimensions, represents a trap for development,” he also emphasised. People must be able to access the labour market, decent working conditions, education and healthcare. On urbanization, he urged Governments to also expand access to energy, water and sanitation.
In the afternoon, the Commission held a multi-stakeholder forum on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the “social and solidarity economy”, which encompasses a wide range of organizations, including cooperatives, mutual societies, associations, foundations and social enterprises, that prioritize people and communities over profit.
Moderating the discussion was Konstantinos Papadakis, Principal Social Affairs Officer at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, who recalled the General Assembly resolutions on cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy in 2022 and 2023, respectively. He also noted that 2025 marks the International Year of Cooperatives, observed under the theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World”. He then introduced three panellists, who shared their experiences and actions taking place in their countries.
Carlos Jorge Paris Ferraro, Vice-Minister for Social Policies at the Ministry of Social Development of Paraguay, said that while the social economy was not a public policy in his country until 2024, such an idea has historically existed in indigenous communities whose economies are marked by reciprocity. They were able to create a self-sufficient solidarity economy during the colonial period. Currently, peasant organizations and family agriculture include this culture of solidarity and reciprocity. In Paraguay, the social and solidarity economy accounts for 12 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), with cooperatives producing 72 per cent of dairy products and 24 per cent of meat for export. About 500,000 small- and medium-size enterprises are members of cooperatives. In a country with only 6 million people, “the cooperative sector is gigantic and is growing”, he said. He then detailed several national initiatives, such as cash transfers to preserve forests or to plant trees that benefited 268 families. To promote this growth model, the Government created the Department for the Social and Solidarity Economy within the Ministry of Social Development.
Ankhbayar Nyamdorj, Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations, said that his country in April 2024 launched the “New Cooperative” programme under its “New Recovery Policy” to enhance agriculture, particularly risk-resistant livestock husbandry through cooperatives. The programme aims to stabilize herders’ income, improve social security and boost the livestock sector’s climate resilience. By the end of 2024, it had reached 16,009, or 6.4 per cent, of Mongolia’s 247,900 herder families. Government efforts include establishing a National Committee led by the Deputy Prime Minister, granting $200 million in investment loans, and subsidizing $9.27 million in interest. Loans support breeding animal purchases, facility expansion and dairy/meat production. Training programmes engaged 1,500 cooperative members, while forums promoted development strategies. Public outreach reached 1 million citizens. Future plans include model cooperatives, national insurance integration and food safety standards. Challenges include strengthening the “social and solidarity economy” capacities, enhancing research and fostering public-private partnerships. Mongolia also shared experiences internationally, such as at the Global Cooperative Conference in India, he added.
Maxime Baduel, Ministerial Delegate for the Social and Solidarity Economy at the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France, said that the social and solidarity economy is imbued with equality, justice and cooperation. In his country, it represents 10 per cent of GDP. “The strength of this French ecosystem also lies in its legislative framework,” he said, noting how laws are designed to encourage organizations like cooperatives. Developing the social and solidarity economy is “a strong lever” to meet the SDGs, and it should be encouraged by the Commission. In conclusion, he stressed the importance of establishing a legislative regulatory framework to “give a structure to this ecosystem”, as well as the need to ensure that they are resourced financially and capacity-building instruments are in place. It is also vital to promote these structures with financial institutions and create public policies in line with the social and solidarity economy, he emphasized.