WSSD II Countdown: Towards Transformative Social Policies in Africa- two webinars (22-23 October,1300 GMT)

The upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD II) in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 6 November 2025, marks a positive step for a world that has experienced significant change since the early 1990s, when the United Nations held its major conferences on human rights, population, social development, and women’s empowerment. These conferences responded to the realisation that economic policies and development agendas had increasingly overshadowed social policy and social development, a shift driven by the global spread of economic liberalisation policies introduced in the 1980s.

The success of the four conferences relied on uniting a broad coalition of governments and civil society to address some of humanity’s most significant challenges. Although progressive language did not always lead to progressive policies and such policies were not always consistently applied, economic liberalisation gained momentum.

Although several conferences have addressed social development issues, a thirty-year gap exists between the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the upcoming summit, which aims to evaluate progress and establish a future agenda for social development. During this period, progress has been made, as indicated by various metrics, including education, health, and social protection. However, setbacks and unresolved challenges persist in these areas and beyond. Researchers in Africa have highlighted the lack of comprehensive, coordinated social policy systems, with many workers not receiving adequate protection.

Even more critically, the upcoming summit occurs at a time when polycrises, including the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity losses; rising inequalities between regions, countries, and within countries; alongside issues such as finance, pandemics, conflicts, and geopolitical tensions—have created a challenging context for advancing social development, democracy, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

IDEAs and the Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy for Africa (GETSPA) are collaborating on two pre-WSSD II webinars featuring researchers from across Africa to contribute to discussions on transformative social policies that can advance the agenda of the upcoming summit. Under the theme “Countdown to the Second World Summit for Social Development: Towards Transformative Social Policies for the Post Doha Agenda in Africa,” the webinar will help strengthen Africa’s voice in the upcoming summit’s deliberations. It will highlight research findings on social policy and social development and has the following objectives:

Review the Declaration and Action documents concerning research in Africa on the synergies between economic and social policies, productive employment and decent work, care and social policy, and inequalities and social integration.
Share reflections on the upcoming summit’s documents with a broader audience.
Provide an agenda for post-summit activities for academics, think-tanks, and civil society organisations.

Register to Join the Zoom Session - Click here

Webinar Schedule - Download

The webinar is available in the following languages: Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese.