In 2025, multilateralism is under great pressure. Many United Nations (UN) member states violate the binding principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, often only superficially commit to non-binding declarations such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the Paris Agreement, and are delaying or even cutting funding to the UN system. Considering these compounded challenges, does it make sense for the overstretched UN to convene a World Summit for Social Development, to take place in Doha, Qatar, in November 2025?
To gauge actual or potential impact of this (or any) UN summit, it is useful to disaggregate ‘the UN’ into five constituencies – member states; the UN secretariat, funds, programmes (‘UN’); the international financial institutions (IFls); civil society and aca-deme.’ Several questions arise. Did the progressive, social justice and solidarity remit of the first social summit get traction? Did it change the concept of social policy by casting social development as a global endeavour? Did it spawn national, regional and intera-tional initiatives, in national governments or civil society? (How) has academic research been involved and what might it contribute in the future?
The essay traces the genesis of the 1995 summit for social development, in terms of actors and their positions, compares the dynamics of the second social development summit and sketches possible approaches for future engagement by supportive academies.
More here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14680181251394501
UN social summits as Global Social Policy?
In 2025, multilateralism is under great pressure. Many United Nations (UN) member states violate the binding principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, often only superficially commit to non-binding declarations such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the Paris Agreement, and are delaying or even cutting funding to the UN system. Considering these compounded challenges, does it make sense for the overstretched UN to convene a World Summit for Social Development, to take place in Doha, Qatar, in November 2025?
To gauge actual or potential impact of this (or any) UN summit, it is useful to disaggregate ‘the UN’ into five constituencies – member states; the UN secretariat, funds, programmes (‘UN’); the international financial institutions (IFls); civil society and aca-deme.’ Several questions arise. Did the progressive, social justice and solidarity remit of the first social summit get traction? Did it change the concept of social policy by casting social development as a global endeavour? Did it spawn national, regional and intera-tional initiatives, in national governments or civil society? (How) has academic research been involved and what might it contribute in the future?
The essay traces the genesis of the 1995 summit for social development, in terms of actors and their positions, compares the dynamics of the second social development summit and sketches possible approaches for future engagement by supportive academies.
More here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14680181251394501
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