Engagement Opportunities in the lead up to WSSD2 2025

Briefing on the Asia-Pacific preparations for the Second World Summit for Social Development in 2025 during the Eighth Committee on Social Development, 8-10 October 2024. This multi-stakeholder special event provided an overview on the proposed plan for preparations for the World Social Summit 2025 in Asia and the Pacific and discussed social development issues of importance to the region, including on decent work, demographic trends and intergenerational relations, gender equality, the care economy, and social protection.   
 

The meeting is being programed as moment to analyze a position paper prepared by ECLAC on the evolution of inclusive social development in LAC since Copenhagen and to exchange the preparatory documents of the WSSD2 and complement the views among Social Development Ministries as a contribution to the countries' presentations at the Summit

The forum will address ethical considerations surrounding AI, contributing insights for policy development at the WSSD2

Regional seminar to discuss poverty, hunger and inequality issues in LAC to be considered for the Summit discussion. Two special sessions are scheduled for high level discussions among representatives of groups on countries and among DESA and the RC Executive Secretaries.

In the context of the Sustainable Development Forum of LAC, this panel is proposed as a moment to share the views and proposals from LAC countries, represented by Chile and Brazil (current and upcoming Presidents of the RCSDLAC) with the DSG Amina Mohammed and the USG Li Junhua, and the ECLAC Executive Secretary, Jose Manuel Salazar Xirinachs.

The objective of the meeting is to discuss the final draft of the countries' report sharing views and proposals from social development ministries of the region , which will be presented to the World Summit for Social Development.

In collaboration with ILO, IOM, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN WOMEN, the second event was held as an Associated Event of the 12th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD). It built on the special event organized on October 10, 2024, and attended by representatives from Governments, the UN, academia, civil society and development partners providing a space to discuss social development issues of importance to the region with a focus on their interlinkages. The event comprised a high-level panel discussion and four thematic roundtable discussions. The high-level panel, moderated by ESCAP, set the stage by addressing the broader themes of social development and their intersection with regional challenges.

The multi-stakeholder regional consultation was organized as an associated event of the 12th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (25-28 February 2025). The consultation focused on social development priorities in Asia and the Pacific, emphasizing inclusive and people-centered development. Thematic areas of particular interest included the need to strengthen social protection systems, preparing for an ageing population, while strengthening intergenerational solidarity and relations, meeting increasing care demands, while also taking into account gender equality considerations and how governments can ensure inclusive development to reduce poverty and inequality and create opportunities across all groups of society.

The forthcoming policy brief will include a conceptual discussion and policy proposals on inclusive social development, prepared by ECLAC to feed the views and discussions of the Summit (internal discussions)

This joint document of the five regional commissions will serve as an input for the preparatory process of the Second World Summit for Social Development 2025. The joint document underscores the need to strengthen social policies and tailor them to a risk structure reconfigured by global crises. Alongside high levels of poverty, inequality and informal employment, profound transformations in demographics, climate, technology and the labour market are under way. Complementary actions beyond social policy are also needed, as progress is equally crucial in the economic and environmental dimensions. Regional frameworks and agreements have been instrumental in driving social policy change and must continue to be leveraged, including in the universalization of social protection systems and in the areas of migration, labour inclusion, taxation and resource management, to achieve shared growth and stability.

This report is under preparation by the Presiding Officers countries of the Conference and ECLAC to facilitate the discussions and articulate their messages and proposals to the Summit.

Briefing on the Asia-Pacific preparations for the Second World Summit for Social Development in 2025 during the Eighth Committee on Social Development, 8-10 October 2024. This multi-stakeholder special event provided an overview on the proposed plan for preparations for the World Social Summit 2025 in Asia and the Pacific and discussed social development issues of importance to the region, including on decent work, demographic trends and intergenerational relations, gender equality, the care economy, and social protection.