Engagement Opportunities in the lead up to WSSD2 2025

Organise or co-convene side events

This event provides a platform for over 1,000 young people to engage in dialogue with Member States and other stakeholders, sharing their perspectives and actions aimed at transforming the world into a fairer, greener, and more sustainable place. The 2025 Forum will be guided by the theme of ECOSOC and the HLPF: "Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring no one is left behind." The Forum will offer opportunities to discuss concrete actions and recommendations related to SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 8, SDG 14, and SDG 17, which will be examined during the HLPF in July 2025. The 2025 ECOSOC Youth Forum is convened by the President of ECOSOC and organized by DESA in collaboration with the UN Youth Office, the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), and co-convened by the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) and the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations (ICMYO), with technical input from youth organizations relevant to the Forum’s theme.
On the final day of the Forum, a plenary session will provide youth with a platform to share their views on social development, addressing key social challenges such as poverty, employment, education, and social inclusion. Panelists will be invited to discuss youth-driven solutions and strategies to advance social development. Young panelists will highlight priorities, challenges, and recommendations for shaping global and national social development policies, as well as preparations for the second World Summit for Social Development. This session is organized by DISD-DESA in collaboration with MGCY.

Side event on UNESCO's Transformative Actions for Gender Equality, Bridging Gaps, Forging Futures, on the occasion of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Women and girls face unique housing challenges, including lack of secure tenure, heightened vulnerability to gender-based violence, and exclusion from decision-making due to discriminatory laws and norms. UN-Habitat event during CSW will aim to explore innovative, gender-transformative strategies and foster partnerships to address these issues and promote adequate housing for women and girls. The event will serve as a critical milestone to ensure housing remains at the center of discussions during the World Social Summit by highlighting its role as a key factor in achieving gender equality and poverty reduction.

UNRISD to co-convene three side events to foster dialogue among thought leaders, policymakers, and activists. The topics are: financing care societies, gender backlash, climate change, and gender. The events will serve as a platform to highlight research findings and actionable recommendations stemming from UNRISD’s preparatory work on Gender-related issues.

UNRISD organized and co-convened side event entitled "Towards the World Summit for Social Development: Economy of Wellbeing Approach and Social Justice as Investments for Future Generations" to foster dialogue among thought leaders, policymakers, and activists. The event served as a platform to highlight research findings and actionable recommendations stemming from UNRISD’s preparatory work. Partners for side events included UN agencies, UN member states, civil society organizations, and experts.

ESCWA’s Executive Secretary briefed Arab Permanent Representatives on the various regional preparatory processes for WSSD2 during CsocD63.

The 63rd session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD63), held from 5 to 14 February 2025, concluded with productive discussions on key challenges to social progress. The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and highlighted the upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar, as a crucial opportunity to reset global priorities and strengthen collective action. The Commission also adopted five resolutions on the priority theme, methods of work, NEPAD, youth, and the review modalities of MIPAA.

This Roundtable on Adequate Housing for All is to build on the outcomes of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development and all prior relevant United Nations commitments to address inequalities and challenges to social inclusion through fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and to address how to better implement the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development from a housing perspectives. This Roundtable will examine the global housing crisis, review status of housing, the progress, gaps and challenges in inclusive housing policies and programmes to address homelessness, and global housing shortage, inequality, and particularly the problems faced by disadvantaged groups and discuss policies and means for social protection and access to adequate, safe and affordable housing for all. To strengthen advocacy and alliance, a full report on the outcome of The Roundtable on Adequate Housing for All will be provided to the President of World Social Summit, President of President of the General Assembly, and member states.