As the global community prepares to gather in the vibrant city of Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 6 November 2025, the stakes for the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) could not be higher. This landmark gathering arrives at a critical juncture for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, serving as both a progress report and a clarion call for urgent action. It has been exactly three decades since the historic Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the visionary Beijing Platform for Action were established in 1995. While those twin milestones laid the groundwork for a more equitable world, the reality in 2025 reveals that the promise of social justice remains unfulfilled for billions of women and girls. For UN Women, the Summit represents an unmissable opportunity to pivot from rhetoric to results, ensuring that gender equality is not merely a sidebar but the very engine of social and economic progress.
The backdrop of the Doha Summit is one of stark contrasts and persistent systemic failures. Despite thirty years of international agreements, the statistics surrounding women’s economic security remain a sobering indictment of current global systems. Today, approximately one in every ten women globally continues to struggle in extreme poverty, a condition that traps families in cycles of deprivation across generations. Perhaps even more alarming is the massive void in social safety nets: out of the 3.8 billion people worldwide who lack any form of social protection, a staggering 2 billion are women and girls. These figures are not just numbers; they represent a systemic exclusion from the basic rights of healthcare, unemployment benefits, and old-age security.
The economic landscape for women has shown frustratingly little movement over the last two decades. The gender gap in labor force participation remains stubbornly fixed at 27.7 per cent. When we look at the prime working ages of 25 to 54, only 64.5 per cent of women are active in the labor force, compared to an overwhelming 92 per cent of men in the same demographic. This disparity is not a matter of choice but a reflection of structural barriers, including the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, discriminatory hiring practices, and the lack of flexible, safe working environments. These disadvantages do not exist in isolation; they accumulate over a woman’s life, leading to a “feminization of poverty” that becomes most acute in old age, leaving many elderly women without pensions or the means to support themselves.
At WSSD2, UN Women is championing a transformative agenda designed to dismantle these structural drivers. Led by Executive Director Sima Bahous, the organization is advocating for a “new social contract” that places care, protection, and dignity at the center of governance. Throughout the Summit, UN Women’s leadership will engage in high-level roundtables and strategic side events to ensure the Doha Political Declaration includes clear, actionable commitments to gender-responsive social development. The goal is to move beyond the three core pillars of the Summit—poverty eradication, full employment, and social integration—by demonstrating how none of these can be achieved without first addressing the specific needs and contributions of women.
One of the most anticipated sessions, co-organized with the governments of El Salvador and Morocco, focuses on “Closing Gender Gaps Across the Life Course.” Scheduled for 5 November, this event will tackle the trajectory of a woman’s economic life, from her first job to her eventual retirement. The discussion will highlight the Arab States Flagship Initiative, which aims to surge women’s employment by 5 per cent before 2030, specifically targeting the high-growth sectors of the Green, STEM, and Care economies. By showcasing successful regional models and innovative financing mechanisms, UN Women aims to prove that when women have access to decent work and equal pay for work of equal value, the benefits ripple outward to stabilize entire national economies. Sima Bahous will emphasize that a life-course approach is essential to preventing the slide into poverty that so many women face as they age.
The conversation around the “Care Economy” is also set to take center stage in Doha. On 6 November, UN Women, alongside the governments of Chile and Spain, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Global Alliance on Care, will host an event titled “Caring for the Future.” This session argues for a radical redefinition of development through “care politics.” For too long, care work—the essential labor of raising children and looking after the elderly—has been treated as a private, unpaid obligation of women rather than a public good. UN Women’s research suggests that by closing care policy gaps and expanding affordable, quality care services, the global economy could create nearly 300 million new decent jobs by 2035. This transition would not only alleviate the burden on women but would also stimulate economic growth and create a more resilient social fabric.
The changing nature of work itself also demands a new approach to safety and rights. On 4 November, a virtual high-level event will address the pervasive issue of violence against women in the workplace, including sexual harassment. Co-organized with Sweden and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), this session will feature Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda. As workplaces transform through technological shifts and remote work arrangements, new forms of harassment have emerged. The event will explore how policies and practices can be updated to protect women in these evolving environments, ensuring that “progress” in the digital age does not come at the cost of women’s physical and psychological safety.
The Summit will also shine a spotlight on a demographic often overlooked in social development discussions: older women. In a collaboration with UNFPA and the Government of Finland, UN Women will co-host a session on 6 November dedicated to centering older women in social development solutions. Because women typically live longer than men but have lower lifetime earnings and less access to pensions, they face unique risks of social exclusion and poverty. This event will advocate for inclusive pension systems and age-responsive healthcare, ensuring that the “social integration” pillar of the Summit truly includes everyone, regardless of age.
Furthermore, the Summit will explore the intersection of governance and social inclusion. Mohammad Naciri, UN Women Chief of Staff, will speak at an event focused on “Transformative Governance for Caring Societies.” This discussion will position care governance as a structural pillar of the new social contract, emphasizing intersectional and territorial approaches that ensure services reach the most marginalized communities. By showcasing promising governance models from Latin America and beyond, the session will provide a roadmap for how governments can sustain inclusive care systems over the long term.
Even the world of athletics is being viewed through the lens of social development. In a unique partnership with the International Olympic Committee and the Government of Qatar, UN Women will host “Policy Meets the Pitch” on 6 November. This event aims to promote sport as a low-cost, high-impact tool for social inclusion. By integrating sport into social agendas, policymakers can deliver significant economic and social benefits to disadvantaged communities, fostering leadership skills in young girls and breaking down gender stereotypes. Sima Bahous will deliver keynote remarks on how equitable funding in sport can become a powerful vehicle for advancing gender equality.
As the Second World Summit for Social Development concludes, the message from UN Women will be clear: the time for incremental change has passed. The 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action serves as a reminder of how much work remains to be done. To build societies where all women and girls can thrive—across all ages and life stages—requires more than just policy papers; it requires renewed political will and, crucially, adequate financing. The Doha Summit is a call to the global community to invest in a future where social development is synonymous with gender justice. Only by dismantling the structural barriers that hold women back can the world hope to achieve the ambitious goals set forth in the 2030 Agenda.
