The global community stands at a historic crossroads as world leaders, activists, and policy experts prepare to descend upon Doha, Qatar, for the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) from 4 to 6 November 2025. This landmark gathering arrives exactly three decades after two of the most influential moments in the history of international development: the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. For UN Women, the Summit is far more than a commemorative anniversary; it is a high-stakes opportunity to salvage the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and demand a radical restructuring of the global economic and social order. As the world grapples with overlapping crises—from climate change to economic instability—the Doha Summit serves as a critical forum to ensure that gender equality is not a secondary consideration but the foundational pillar of social progress.
The urgency of this mission is underscored by sobering statistics that reveal a world struggling to fulfill its promises to women and girls. Currently, one in every ten women globally lives in extreme poverty, a condition that traps families in cycles of deprivation and limits the potential of entire nations. The social protection landscape is equally grim; of the 3.8 billion people worldwide who lack any form of social safety net, approximately 2 billion are women and girls. This lack of access to healthcare, unemployment benefits, and maternity support leaves half of the world’s population uniquely vulnerable to economic shocks. Furthermore, the gender gap in labor force participation has remained stubbornly stagnant for two decades, with a 27.7 percent disparity between men and women. Only 64.5 percent of women aged 25 to 54 are active in the workforce, compared to a staggering 92 percent of men in the same age bracket. These figures represent not just a failure of social policy, but a massive loss of global economic productivity.
UN Women, under the leadership of Executive Director Sima Bahous, arrives in Doha with a clear and transformative agenda. The organization is advocating for a shift away from piecemeal reforms toward structural changes that address the root drivers of inequality. Central to this vision is the “life-course approach,” which recognizes that the disadvantages women face—beginning with unequal access to education in childhood and progressing through the “motherhood penalty” in the workplace—culminate in severe poverty during old age. By focusing on the three core pillars of the Summit—poverty eradication, full employment, and social integration—UN Women aims to demonstrate that none of these goals can be achieved without a gender-responsive framework.
One of the most anticipated highlights of the Summit is a high-level event co-organized with the governments of El Salvador and Morocco, titled “Closing Gender Gaps Across the Life Course.” This session will focus on the “feminization of poverty” and the specific strategies needed to ensure women have access to decent work and equal pay. A major focal point will be the Arab States Flagship Initiative, which sets an ambitious target: “Surging Women Employment 5% before 2030.” This initiative specifically targets high-growth sectors such as the Green, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and Care economies. By positioning women at the forefront of the green transition and the digital revolution, the program seeks to break traditional occupational segregation and provide women with the tools to thrive in the industries of the future.
The “Care Economy” itself has emerged as a revolutionary concept in social development, and it will take center stage in Doha. On 6 November, UN Women will join forces with the governments of Chile and Spain, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Global Alliance on Care to advocate for care politics as a fundamental pillar of sustainable development. The argument is both social and economic: by closing policy gaps in care and expanding affordable, high-quality services for children and the elderly, the global economy could create nearly 300 million new decent jobs by 2035. This “caring for the future” model views care not as a private domestic burden to be borne primarily by women, but as a public good that requires state investment and transformative governance. This shift is essential for freeing women from unpaid labor, which remains one of the single largest barriers to their participation in the formal economy.
The Summit will also address the darker realities of the modern workplace. In a virtual session titled “Power, Protection, Progress,” UN Women Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda will lead a discussion on violence against women, including sexual harassment, in a rapidly changing world of work. As technology reshapes how and where we work, new forms of harassment and exploitation have emerged. The event, supported by Sweden, the Kering Foundation, and the International Trade Union Confederation, will explore how strategies and policies must evolve to protect women in both physical and digital workspaces. This dialogue is particularly timely as global labor markets transition through technological and social shifts that often outpace existing legal protections.
Beyond the immediate workforce, the Doha Summit will cast a much-needed spotlight on the often-overlooked demographic of older women. In partnership with UNFPA and the Government of Finland, UN Women will host a session dedicated to centering older women in social development solutions. Because women generally live longer than men but have lower lifetime earnings and less access to formal pensions, they are at a significantly higher risk of poverty in their later years. The discussion will highlight the need for inclusive pension systems and gender-responsive healthcare that ensure dignity and security for women across their entire lives, rather than just during their reproductive or most productive working years.
The role of governance and multilateral partnerships will also be a recurring theme. Mohammad Naciri, UN Women’s Chief of Staff, will contribute to a discussion on “Transformative Governance for Caring Societies,” exploring how care systems can be integrated into a “new social contract.” This involves intersectional and territorial approaches that recognize the diverse needs of women in different geographic and socioeconomic contexts. Furthermore, the Summit will explore unconventional avenues for social inclusion, such as the “Policy Meets the Pitch” event. This initiative, co-organized with the International Olympic Committee and the Government of Qatar, examines how sport can be used as a low-cost, high-impact tool for social and economic benefits, particularly for marginalized girls and young women. By integrating sport into social inclusion agendas, UN Women and its partners hope to foster leadership, health, and community cohesion.
As the Second World Summit for Social Development concludes, the expectations for the Doha Political Declaration will be high. UN Women’s presence in Doha is a reminder that the promises made in Copenhagen and Beijing 30 years ago remain unfulfilled for millions. The organization is calling for more than just rhetoric; it is calling for adequate financing and renewed political will. Without significant investment in gender-equal social protection systems and the dismantling of structural barriers to employment, the 2030 Agenda will remain out of reach. The Doha Summit represents a rare moment for the global community to align its economic policies with its social values, ensuring that the next 30 years are defined not by persistent gaps, but by the shared progress of women and girls in every corner of the world.
The path forward requires a bold reimagining of what development looks like—one where care is valued, work is decent, and no woman is left to face the challenges of poverty alone. As Sima Bahous and her team advocate for these changes on the global stage, the message is clear: gender equality is the engine of social development, and the time to fuel that engine is now.
