From November 4 to 6, 2025, Qatar will host the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) in Doha. The summit comes 30 years after the first one that was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1995 where 10 Commitments were agreed upon by heads of state. These have come to be known as the Copenhagen  Commitments on  Social Development.The  second  WSSD  will  take stock of the  achievements made  towards the common goals of eradicating  poverty, ensuring  inclusive  economic  growth, addressing inequality,   and    strengthening global cooperation,   among  others.
The   Secretary-General    of    the   United Nations,   António    Guterres,    has emphasized the importance of    this landmark   United  Nations   event  on  several occasions:
“This would be an   opportunity  to  hold   a different form of  global  deliberation  and to live up to the values,  including  trust  and listening, that underpin the social contract.
The Summit outcome could be an update of the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development,  covering  issues  such    as universal social protection floors, including universal health coverage, adequate housing, education for all and decent work, and give momentum towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” (António Guterres) As an organisation dedicated to human rights, democracy and sustainable development, we at Qatar Centre for  Peace and    Democracy (QCPD) seek  to  ensure   that  the     second WSSD     achieves   its    ambitious     goals.
For this to  happen,  we  focus  on  ensuring that Qatar is well  aligned with the  1995 Copenhagen Commitments  to  be   an effective host inspiring other participating states  to  aim  high  and  make  strong commitments at the summit. To achieve this, we  engage in   advocacy   spotlighting   the progress  Qatar has made  over  the  last  30 years and highlighting the areas that need reform.Key  among  these  areas  are  ending poverty, ensuring decent work,  fostering social   protection,   achieving   inclusive development, and ending  inequality for  all people living and working in Qatar.
We are engaged in advocacy at different levels such as the UN level, as well as regional and local levels, with a specific focus on the inclusion and engagement of grassroots voices. QCPD has published an assessment of Qatar’s alignment with the 1995 Copenhagen Commitments and hosted a side event at the United Nations during the 63^rd Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSoCD63) in February 2025. Moreover, QCPD is an active member of the  NGO Committee for Social Development ,  regularly contributes to its World Social Summit Committee, and co-chairs its task force for a dedicated publication in preparation to the second WSSD. Beyond that, QCPD continues to engage with different other stakeholders to ensure that the aspirations of the upcoming summit are achieved.Journey with us as we help prepare the second World Summit for Social Development in Doha in November 2025 and make our contribution to shaping the future after the summit.