The International Labour Organization (ILO) is set to play a leading role at the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2), held in Qatar from 4 to 6 November 2025, aiming to strengthen a new multilateralism that delivers tangible progress on decent work and social justice. Building on the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville in July 2025, which emphasized increased investment in social policies and annual expansion of social protection coverage by at least two percentage points, the ILO seeks to translate global pledges into concrete outcomes. The Summit provides an opportunity to renew the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and advance a global social contract centered on people, emphasizing poverty eradication, decent work for all, and social inclusion.
According to the ILO’s report, The State of Social Justice: A Work in Progress, the world has become wealthier, healthier, and better educated since 1995, yet progress remains uneven. While child labour among 5- to 14-year-olds has dropped from 20 to 10 per cent, extreme poverty from 39 to 10 per cent, and social protection now covers over half of the global population, 58 per cent of workers still occupy informal jobs. Women’s labour force participation lags 24 percentage points behind men’s, and at the current pace it will take a century to close the global gender pay gap.
The ILO, as custodian of Sustainable Development Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth, will collaborate with governments, employers, and workers through its tripartite structure to implement the Summit’s outcomes. Its objectives include poverty eradication, placing decent job creation and sustainable enterprises at the center of poverty reduction strategies, and expanding universal and sustainable social protection systems. Employment-intensive investments, skills development, and coordinated financing are key strategies, aligning with the Doha Declaration’s goal of annual coverage expansion.
Decent work is central to sustainable growth, and the ILO supports policies that promote full, productive, and freely chosen employment. Efforts focus on fair wages, safe workplaces, legal protections for informal workers, a fair digital economy, just transitions to green and digital jobs, strengthening the care economy, and advancing gender equality. These measures aim to ensure that no worker is left behind and that economic transformation benefits all.
Social inclusion remains critical for reducing inequalities and fostering cohesive societies. The ILO works to expand opportunities for vulnerable populations, including women, youth, senior workers, persons with disabilities, and migrants. Through initiatives like the Global Coalition for Social Justice and the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, the ILO helps countries implement policies that uphold rights, expand social protection, create decent jobs, and ensure fairness and inclusion, turning Doha commitments into actionable progress on social justice worldwide.
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