The second World Summit for Social Development was held in Doha, Qatar, from November 4 to 6, 2025, under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. In a momentous celebration of the 30th anniversary of the historic Copenhagen Declaration and its profound legacy, the three-day summit reached a significant milestone—the heads of state, by consensus, formally adopted the groundbreaking Doha Political Declaration on Social Development.
Thirty years after Copenhagen, progress has been made. It’s truly inspiring to see that around 1.5 billion people have escaped extreme poverty, more children are attending school, and life expectancy has risen from 66 to over 73 years. While the progress is real, it remains uneven and fragile. As of 2023, 808 million people live in extreme poverty, and over 1.1 billion face multidimensional deprivations across health, education, and living standards. Inequalities continue to widen, and trust in institutions and social cohesion is under strain.
The Summit is a crucial opportunity to rebuild solidarity and chart a renewed path forward. The overarching objectives of the summit are to recommit to the Copenhagen Declaration and assess gaps in social development; to promote social justice anchored in a strengthened, effective multilateral system; and to advance people-centered, integrated approaches to accelerate social progress.
The Copenhagen and Doha Commitments in Comparison
The Doha Political Declaration renews and expands the 1995 Copenhagen commitments to address today’s complex challenges, thereby strengthening action across the three interlinked pillars of social development: poverty eradication, decent work, and social inclusion.
Some emerging challenges the world faces today that were not covered in the Copenhagen Declaration three decades ago include digital transformation and artificial intelligence, migration, demographic shifts and aging, and climate change.
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Doha Commitments, 2025 |
Copenhagen Commitments, 1995 |
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1. Poverty Eradication: Comprehensive strategies to tackle multidimensional poverty, hunger, and malnutrition through stronger social protection, sustainable financing, and inclusive data systems. |
1. Create an Enabling Environment: Foster economic, political, social, cultural, and legal conditions for social development.
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2. Decent Work and Economic Transformation: Policies promoting job creation, formalization of informal work, and skills development for green and digital transitions. |
2. Eradicate Poverty: Make poverty eradication a goal, setting national targets and implementing comprehensive strategies. |
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3. Social Integration: Efforts to combat discrimination, promote intergenerational solidarity, and empower marginalized groups, including older persons, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and migrants. |
3. Promote Full Employment: Aim for productive, freely chosen, and decent work for everyone. |
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4. Food Security and Health: Scaling up resilient food systems and ensuring universal health coverage with mental health as a priority. |
4. Foster Social Integration: Build inclusive societies that respect diversity and protect human rights. |
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5. Digital Transformation and AI: Harnessing technology for inclusion while safeguarding human rights and closing connectivity divides. |
5. Achieve Equality & Equity: Ensure equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for women and men. |
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6. Climate Resilience: Aligning social protection and disaster risk reduction with the Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework. |
6. Ensure Access to Essentials: Provide universal, equitable access to quality education, primary health care, and mental health services |
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7. Gender Equality: Removing barriers to women’s participation, redistributing unpaid care work, and combating gender-based violence. |
7. Accelerate Development: Speed up development in Africa and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). |
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8. Financing for Social Development: Implementing the Sevilla Commitment and reforming international financial systems to mobilize resources for social progress. |
8. Integrate Social Goals: Include social development goals (like poverty eradication) in structural adjustment programs. |
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9. Ensuring adequate, safe, accessible, and affordable housing, water, sanitation, and hygiene. |
9. Increase Resources: Allocate more resources to social development at national and international levels. |
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10. Migration: Recognizing migration as a driver of inclusive development and ensuring safe and orderly pathways and protection of migrants’ rights. |
10. Strengthen Cooperation: Enhance international, regional, and subregional cooperation for social development. |
Civil Society Forum: Putting People First, Not Profits
Civil society groups played a significant role in the Doha World Social Summit, which was led by the NGO Committee for Social Development (NGO CSocD). This included participation in the summit’s preparatory meetings, contributions to the early stages of consideration of the Doha Declaration, and the organization of the Civil Society Forum during the Summit.
In collaboration with the UN Department of Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Government of Qatar, NGO CSocD hosted the Civil Society Forum on November 5th, 2025. The Forum featured an opening panel, a closing panel, and ten parallel events, each inspired by one of the ten commitments in the Copenhagen Declaration. The events fostered knowledge exchange, strengthened partnerships, and addressed current social development challenges.
Civil society organizations play a key role in holding governments accountable, advancing social justice and inclusion beyond lofty statements on paper, and ensuring that people’s needs are a top priority rather than a profit motive. Recognizing that role, the UN Secretary General’s Deputy, Amina Mohammed, said: “You are proof that social development matters and always will be, because you make it real in communities and in people’s lives every day. You are our copilots.”
The Civil Society Forum was held alongside the Private Sector Forum in the same corridor of the Qatar National Convention Centre. The Business Forum underscored the crucial role of companies in supporting inclusive growth while adapting to technological shifts, climate pressures, and evolving labor markets. It also made clear that the private sector’s involvement in social development is not charity but investment.
One of the key barriers to implementing the SDGs is the financial gap, which currently stands at 4 trillion dollars. At the opening of the Business Forum, the President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, made a critical point, saying: “But we know that money as such is not the problem. The question rather is how and where it is invested,” highlighting that some key players of the developed countries spent approximately $2.7 trillion on global military spending in 2024.
Moving Forward
While convening the World Social Summit was a success, a critical question raised by many participants at the end of the Summit remained: Where are we going from Doha? What are the next steps to ensure that the Doha political declaration is not just a lofty declaration on paper but is actually delivered with tangible impact on people on the ground?
To monitor and assess progress, a high-level review will be conducted every 5 years. The first high-level review will take place in 2031, and the Commission for Social Development (CSocD) will serve as the lead platform for follow-up. The United Nations system, international financial institutions, civil society, youth, and the private sector are all called upon to act together.
Civil society can participate in the follow-up to the Doha Declaration by delivering on commitments to grassroots communities, monitoring progress, holding governments accountable and transparent, and engaging in social dialogue with governments and other stakeholders to ensure a participatory decision-making process regarding social development.
Thanks to VIVAT International, I had an excellent opportunity to witness the historic launch of the Doha Political Declaration at the opening of the summit at the Qatar National Convention Center on November 4, 2025, and to participate in the Civil Society Forum the following day. As I left Doha after the Summit on November 7, 2025, I felt gratitude and hope. I reflected on that moment and noted it on my own Facebook account the following:
“As the historic Second World Summit for Social Development wraps up, I want to thank the State of Qatar for successfully hosting “the Summit of Action. Thanks for the exceptional hospitality and generosity of the Qatari government and people. I leave Doha with a sense of gratitude and hope. Someday, decades from now, people might recognize the legacy of the Doha Declaration as a guiding force for social development progress for generations to come.”
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