“The World Social Summit Ends Today with Renewed Promises Dating 30 Years without a Plan to Ensure Social Justice!”

 

The Historical and Political Context of Two World Social Summits: from Copenhagen 1995 to Doha 2025 and Beyond

by Uchita de Zoysa

(reporting from Doha as a participant at both Summits, 6^th November 2025)

 

Many engaged in multilateralism would have had renewed hope for “Social Justice” when the United Nations General Assembly, through Resolutions 78/261 and 78/318, decided to convene the World Social Summit under the title “Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD)”. Thirty years after the first Summit in 1995 in Copenhagen-Denmark, the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha-Qatar is being held from 4 to 6 November 2025. The UN has stated that in a world facing growing inequalities, demographic shifts, and rapid technological transformation, the need for a renewed commitment to social progress has never been more urgent. 30 years ago, I participated in the 1^st WSSD in Copenhagen as a young civil society activist, and now in Doha for the 2^nd WSSD as a person who has engaged in multilateral processes for over 30 years and witnessed big promises of pacification and failures without accountability to deliver.  The 2^nd WSSD will mark another such show that renews global hope without a real plan to achieve it. 

 

1. Pre & Post Copenhagen 
2. Doha & the Immediate Pathway
3. Planning for Sustainable Futures Post Doha

 

1.     Pre & Post Copenhagen 

 

The first World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) which was held from 6 - 12 March 1995 was a landmark event that had the largest gathering of world leaders ever at the time, that placed people at the center of development efforts. Governments adopted the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and a Programme of Action, which focused on ten commitments aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting the goal of full and productive employment, and fostering social integration and well-being for all. The agreements from this summit have since attempted to guide multilateral action on social development and to form a basis for sustainable development.

 

 

However, it appears that the 2^nd WSSD is positioned in another multilateral silo while simply using word to show linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 1^st WSSD was not a silo but a response to growing concerns that the core social justice issues were not being addressed adequately in an emerging sustainable development agenda. The 1972 UNCHE and then 20 years later the 1992 UNCED 1^st Earth Summit had started evolving a multilateral discourse on sustainable development, in which the environmental dimension received greater focus. The Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 provided the much needed narrative for an integrated approach to development planning, but also marked the emergence of siloed pathways to climate change (UNFCCC), biodiversity (UNCBD), desertification (UNCCD) plus financing, trade, and many other related thematic areas. In this context, a social development summit would have been perceived as important to address “Social Justice” to bring deeper focus on issues prevailing at that time. The 10 commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration quite well represent that need at that time historically. 

 

 

During the past 30 plus years, multilateralism has taken fragmented approaches to sustainability, climate change, biodiversity conservation, poverty eradication, peace, human rights, financing, trade, etc. What is now provided at the international stage is more of outcomes from an industry of pacification that delays action to the ultimate truth. Such an approach has created more desperation and hopelessness where climate change, ecocide, wars, marginalization, exclusion, injustice, bankruptcy, etc. take place in an increased frequency than 30 years ago. The next stop is in Belem-Brazil where a massive circus in the name of UNFCCC COP30 is planned. 

 

2.     Doha and the Immediate Pathway

 

The 2^nd WSSD emerges in the obvious failures of the greatest promise for a transformation of systems that are contributing to a planet in distress. The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development at the Rio+20 Summit produced the 17 SDGs as an incremental step to Agenda 21 from the 1^st Earth Summit. At the mid-term review of the SDGs in 2023, it was revealed that only 12% of the SDGs were on track to be achieved in 2030. UNESCAP had reported that the Asia Pacific Region would take up to 2060 to achieve these goals and targets. The continued lack of governments, multilateral agencies and other key actors to engage an integrated approach to implementation has simply compromised transformation towards a more sustainable world. According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, seven of the nine planetary boundaries have been transgressed that increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. 

 

Building on the 10 Commitments of the 1995 Summit and the Copenhagen Declaration, the 2^nd WSSD promises accelerate action on poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, and social inclusion, ensuring that no one is left behind in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. It aims to address persistent gaps, reaffirm global commitment to social development, and give new momentum to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The stated goal is to build societies that are more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.

 

In the backdrop of failed promises during UN Summits, the Doha Political Declaration does not demonstrate the urgency of people to transform the systems ailing social protection, development and justice. The preparation and finalizing of the Declaration for far from inclusive and left out CSOs and other key stakeholders. While it was promised that world leaders will come together in Doha to redefine strategies for social progress, strengthen global partnerships, and promote inclusive policies that foster equitable opportunities for all, the declaration for finalized before that Summit had started. Only a very few Heads of State actually participated which can be an indicator of lack of value at national level and also space for real engagement in global policy design. While claiming to do so, the Declaration does not provide people of the world renewed hope for the promised transformation towards sustainable futures. The Summit only provides space for hundreds side events to showcase activities, solutions and ideas of governments, international organizations, the UN system, civil society, cooperatives, academia, the private sector, and experts; but the fragmented approach fails to strengthen international cooperation for inclusive social development. 

 

3.     Planning for Sustainable Futures Post Doha

 

We live in a fundamentally different world that is in greater desperation and the multilateral response of action needs to be relevant to the current and future!

 

Transformation requires addressing the root causes that generate and reproduce economic, social, environmental and governance problems and inequities, not merely their symptoms. Transformation is also about the processes of change needed in society and the economy to achieve greater equality, empowerment and sustainability. Planning for a transformation requires consideration of multiple scenarios that impact on sustainable development; scenarios that might lead to breakdowns creating chaos or instability, scenarios that will help prepare for alternative futures and greater sustainability, as well as scenarios that can help establish favorable conditions for an inclusive prosperity. 

 

 

 

Civil Society needs to play its historical role in multilateralism to bring urgency of social development and justice promised 30 years ago. The question is if civil society has also been coaxed into a fragmented and pacification driven multilateral mechanism. Are they proactive, collective, representative, relevant, strategic, futuristic and is driving global partnerships for transformation towards sustainability?

 

The critic of civil society actors has been good for a long time, but do they produce transformative strategies and plans for systems change driven alternative futures? 

In five years, a World Summit for Social Justice is now on the cards. For this, I had proposed that a “People’s Roadmap for Social Justice” needs to be developed that includes advocating for the global public good, ensuring greater accountability of international bodies, and providing essential expertise and community-level insights. The roadmap can strengthen informing policymaking, monitoring implementation, promoting democratic participation, and fostering dialogue and cooperation between governments and citizens to address shared global challenges for integrated social development.

 

Such a Peoples Roadmap for Social Justice could address the following.

·      ⁠Immediate Action: Ensuring renewed commitment to the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action is embedded in the challenges of the present world realities. 

·      Advancing the 2030 Agenda (2026-2030): Advancing social goals of the 2030 Agenda with an integrated approach with environmental, economic and governance goals to bring back on track the SDGs.  

·      Sustainable Development Beyond 2030: Moving the global sustainable development agenda beyond 2030 to ensure intergenerational equity for climate sustainability futures.

 

About the writer: Uchita de Zoysa participated in the 1st World Social Summit and will be at the 2nd summit. He also was at the 1st Earth Summit in 1992 as a Steering Committee Member of the International NGO Forum, and 20 years later initiated the Peoples Sustainability Treaties Platform for Rio+20. He represented Sri Lanka during 2016 and 2017 as the Chief Negotiator for the UN 2030 SDG Process in his capacity as Ministerial Advisor on Sustainable Development. He is a thinker, author, strategist for the local to global climate sustainability transformation with over 35 years of experience.