On June 24-26, the Fifth Regional Seminar on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean will take place, focused on the region’s preparatory process vis-à-vis the Second World Summit for Social Development, to be held in Doha in November.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will hold its Fifth Regional Seminar on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean on June 24, 25 and 26 in Santiago, Chile, with the participation of government authorities, globally renowned specialists, senior officials from the United Nations system and representatives of civil society.

The event will be inaugurated on Tuesday, June 24 at 9 a.m. local time in Chile, by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary; Susanne Fries-Gaier, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chile; Hak-Jae Kim, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Chile; and Laura Oroz Ulibarri, Director of Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), via video. Alberto Arenas de Mesa, Director of ECLAC’s Social Development Division, will act as moderator.

The first day of the seminar will feature a high-level panel on which participants will analyze the region’s preparatory process ahead of the Second World Summit for Social Development (Qatar, November 4-6, 2025). ECLAC’s Executive Secretary will present the Policy brief “The road to the 2025 Second World Summit for Social Development: towards a pact for inclusive social development”, with comments offered by Javiera Toro, Minister of Social Development and Family of Chile; Kirk Humphrey, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs of Barbados; Sophie De Smedt, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations, via video and on behalf of Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations, representing the two countries that are co-facilitating the Second World Summit; and Bjørg Sandkjær, Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

On the event’s third and final day, a high-level roundtable will be held with representatives of the United Nations’ five regional commissions and its Department of Economic and Social Affairs discussing the challenges, commitments and expectations ahead of the upcoming gathering in Qatar. 

The seminar will address some of the region’s structural challenges, in the context of the three development traps that ECLAC has identified: low capacity for growth; high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion; and low institutional capacity and weak governance.

At the event, three keynote addresses will be delivered: 1) “Addressing Inequality: Pathways to Inclusive Social Development,” by James Foster, Professor of International Affairs and Economics at George Washington University; 2) “A Life-Cycle Perspective from Childhood and Demographic Transitions,” by Silvia Giorguli, President of El Colegio de México; and 3) “Digital Inclusion: Advances and Obstacles to Inclusive Social Development,” delivered by Jong Sung Hwang, President of the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of the Republic of Korea. These speakers will offer strategic and innovative perspectives on achieving inclusive social development.

 In addition, there will be six thematic panels on social cohesion; poverty, hunger and inequality; investment in early childhood; universal health; digital transformations; and social protection and labor inclusion.

ECLAC’s Fifth Regional Seminar on Social Development will be a welcoming space for bringing together different perspectives to collectively plan and prepare for Latin America and the Caribbean’s participation in the Second World Summit for Social Development in November. 

WHAT: Fifth Regional Seminar on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 24; Wednesday, June 25; and Thursday, June 26, 2025.

WHO: Government authorities, globally renowned specialists, senior officials from the United Nations system and representatives of civil society.

Inaugurating the event on Tuesday, June 24 at 9 a.m. local time in Chile (GMT-4):

• José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
• Susanne Fries-Gaier, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chile.
• Hak-Jae Kim, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Chile.
• Laura Oroz Ulibarri, Director of Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

WHERE: ECLAC’s headquarters (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3477, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile).

Online transmission at https://live.cepal.org/SRDS5