Towards the Second World Summit for Social Development
Work area(s)
The Second World Summit for Social Development in 2025 represents a unique milestone for stakeholders to come together to jointly analyze the road travelled, analyze the present and make decisions that will make a future with less inequality and greater social mobility and cohesion feasible. Three decades later, it is essential to place the region's hopes and experiences at the center of the debate.

Background
The 1995 World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen, was a milestone in the international social development agenda. At the Summit, governments adopted the Copenhagen Declaration and its Program of Action, focusing development on people and making key commitments. Among the main agreements were the eradication of poverty, the promotion of full and productive employment, and the promotion of social integration. Ten commitments for action were defined, covering gender equality, universal access to education and health, international cooperation and the strengthening of the institutional framework. It was emphasized that social development is a multisectoral process, inseparable from the political, economic and cultural spheres. This event consolidated the importance of integrated policies to achieve sustainable and inclusive development at the global level, establishing the basis for future international initiatives and commitments.
Thirty years after the 1995 Summit, the Second World Summit for Social Development, to be held in 2025, seeks to evaluate the progress achieved and define new strategies to address current challenges. Problems such as poverty, inequality and social exclusion persist in a context of global crises and accelerated change.This summit will be a key opportunity to strengthen commitments and promote policies that guarantee greater social cohesion and economic mobility.Latin America and the Caribbean, with a long history in the debate on social development, will present proposals to reduce inequality and improve social inclusion.The summit will also serve as a platform to consolidate a common perspective to strengthen governance, international cooperation and the role of civil society in the implementation of effective policies for sustainable development.
Related content
News:
-
1 April 2025 | News
ECLAC Advocates for Forging a Global Pact for Inclusive Social Development at Summit to be Held in Qatar
In the framework of the eighth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, taking place in Santiago, Executive Secretary José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs shared a policy brief that includes a series of concrete proposals in that direction.
-
24 March 2025 | News
Latin American and Caribbean Countries Call for Approving a Global Pact for Inclusive Social Development at Summit to be Held in November in Qatar
Chile’s Social Development and Family Minister, Javiera Toro, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, led a Special Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held virtually.
-
31 October 2024 | Press Release
Social Inequality is a Trap for Latin America and the Caribbean’s Development and Inhibits the Exercise of Rights
Authorities participated on Thursday in Barbados in the Sixth Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the framework of the XVI Ministerial Forum for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
-
30 April 2024 | Press Release
The Next Summit for Social Development is an Opportunity to Improve Social Conditions in the World, Accelerate Progress on the 2030 Agenda and Strengthen International Cooperation
A session for reflection, organized by ECLAC and the ILO, featured the participation of the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Alberto van Klaveren; and the heads of seven United Nations organizations, among other high-level representatives.
Activities:
-
1 April 2025, 11:00 - 12:00 | Subsidiary bodies / intergovernmental
Session on the Second World Summit for Social Development (Qatar, 2025)
Sesión desarrollada en el marco de la Octava Reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible 2025. A desarrollarse en Santiago, desde el 31 de marzo al 4 de abril.
-
24 March 2025, 10:00 - 11:30 | Presiding officers
-
25 - 27 June 2024 | Other events
Fourth Regional Seminar on Social Development "Social Protection and Inequality: Latin America and the Caribbean towards the Second World Summit for Social Development of 2025"
The objective of this seminar, organized by the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is to promote reflection and dialogue to advance in the recognition, analysis of the characteristics and dimensioning of social inequality in the region. Therefore, it seeks to strengthen the design of public policies that allow progress in inclusive social development and thus progress in meeting the goals agreed by the countries in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.