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UNMISS/Isaac Billy

Genuine inclusion of persons with disabilities is a win for us all: Guterres

3 December 2025 - Discussions around promoting greater inclusion of people with disabilities in society topped the agenda at the United Nations on Wednesday. 

Photo: UNICEF

Disability advocates drive change through the Doha Declaration

1 December 2025 – The Second World Summit for Social Development which concluded last month in Doha, was designed with inclusion at its core. Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, the team in UN DESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development, shared how the Social Summit helped advance the rights of persons with disabilities.

Latest urbanization data reveal world’s most populous cities

 

1 December 2025 – Our world is becoming increasingly urban. Cities are now home to 45 per cent of the global population of 8.2 billion, according to UN DESA’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results, released on 18 November 2025. 


 

Photo: UN DESA/Predrag Vasić

Cities are home to 45 per cent of the global population, with megacities continuing to grow, UN report finds

18 November 2025 - The world is becoming increasingly urban, with cities now home to 45 per cent of the global population of 8.2 billion, according to the World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results, released today by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

Photo credit: UN Photo

6 lessons from 80 years of UN progress toward sustainable development

12 November 2025 - As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, one story stands out: the world’s journey—through challenges and breakthroughs—toward sustainable development for all. , a new UN DESA report, traces how the UN has helped transform global cooperation, uniting countries around shared goals for people and planet. 

Photo credit: UN DESA

SDG Pavilion at COP30: A hub for action and hope in Belém

11 November 2025 - As the world gathers in BelĂ©m, Brazil, for the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) from 10 to 21 November, the SDG Pavilion organized by UN DESA, will serve as a beacon for collaboration and innovation to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement in synergy. 

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe. A park in Bangkok, Thailand, where accessibility and assistive features such as detectable guides and warnings have been installed.

Doha summit ends with call to turn social pledges into action

6 November 2025 - The Second World Summit for Social Development concluded in Doha on Thursday with calls for countries to move swiftly from commitments to implementation, ensuring that the Doha Political Declaration delivers measurable progress on poverty reduction, decent work and social inclusion.

© ILO/Nguyễn ViệtThanh. A fisherman works from a small raft off the coast of Viet Nam. Around the world, tens of millions of people rely on precarious livelihoods, often without access to social protection.

Not just dreams, but rights: Social justice in focus at Doha summit

5 November 2025 - The push to put social justice at the heart of global policymaking took centre stage at the Second World Summit for Social Development...

Photo: Zoom Arts & Design. Doha Participants at the World Summit in the "Spider" foyer of the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Doha: World Summit opens with pledge to speed social progress

4 November 2025 - The Second World Summit for Social Development opened in Doha on Tuesday with the adoption of the Doha Political Declaration...

Photo: UN Photo

World leaders adopt Doha declaration to boost efforts on social development

4 November 2025 – Against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical tension and widening social divides, global leaders at the Second World Summit for Social Development on Tuesday adopted the Doha Political Declaration, signalling renewed resolve to advance justice and inclusion worldwide.

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe. UN Secretary-General addresses the opening of the Second World Summit for Social Development.

World leaders in Doha unite in call to action for more just and inclusive societies

4 November 2025 – Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and rising inequalities, world leaders at the  today adopted the , signalling renewed global commitment to building more just and inclusive societies. 

Keeping the promise of placing people at the centre of development

3 November 2025 - â€śThirty years ago, the world gathered in Copenhagen and made a promise: to put people at the centre of development. This November, we meet again—this time in Doha—for the Second World Summit for Social Development. This Summit comes at a critical moment,” said UN DESA’s Under-Secretary-General, and Summit Secretary-General Li Junhua, pointing to widening inequalities, eroding trust and communities struggling with conflict and climate shocks.

Photo credit: UNHCR

What social progress means to people around the world

3 November 2025 - As preparations intensify for the Second World Summit for Social Development, to be held from 4 to 6 November 2025, the Accelerating Social Progress campaign invited people from all walks of life around the world to reflect on a single question: What does social progress mean to you? 

Photo: UN News/Abdelmonem Makki

As global crises deepen, leaders in Doha urge shift from promises to action

3 November 2025 – As global challenges deepen, governments, civil society and international partners convened in Doha on Monday to highlight concrete solutions to advance social development and confront some of today’s most urgent crises – from widening hunger and poverty to growing inequality and climate-driven instability. 

© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih. A health worker measures a child for signs of malnutrition in Khartoum, Sudan.

Global alliance meets in Doha to confront hunger crisis

3 November 2025 - With global hunger rising and millions struggling to secure their next meal, world leaders gathered in Doha on Monday for the first high-level meeting of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.