This year’s Commission on Social Development (CsocD) was special. It marked the 30th anniversary of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen. Its Plan of Action represented a major international consensus that prioritized social development, placing human beings at the center of all development, including economic development – a principal tenet of the Catholic Social Tradition.
The 63rd Commission for Social Development was held this year at the UN HQ in New York from February 10 to 14. Its theme was: “Strengthening solidarity, social inclusion and social cohesion to accelerate the achievement of the commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Program of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, as well as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The CSocD is the UN body with a special role in monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
At the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, world leaders unanimously made the eradication of poverty, the promotion of social inclusion, and the achievement of full employment for all the priorities for all development. They were translated into actions respectively by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) , the Sustainable Development Goals, and later by the Summit of the Future, aimed at creating a just and sustainable world where no one is left behind.
Progress has been remarkable over the past 30 years. Extreme poverty halved, social inclusion and services improved as digital transformation revolutionized services. Education, particularly for girls, health and life expectancy have increased, and some diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, have declined.
Despite this remarkable progress, challenges remain. Inequalities in income, education, health and opportunities remain for certain categories of people. The digital divide still excludes millions of people, and vulnerable populations, including older people, Indigenous people, rural residents, and people with disabilities, continue to face barriers. According to World Bank statistics for 2024, 9.2% (or 700,000 million people) live in extreme poverty, 26% (or 1.3 billion people) live in moderate poverty, with overall poverty affecting mainly “children under 18”. Poverty has profound consequences on children’s health, education and general well-being. Besides the young, it heavily impacts everyone who experiences it. The World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $2.50 a day. A common, broader description of poverty is the one adopted by the UN in 1998 as “the lack of adequate financial resources such that individuals, households, and entire communities don’t have the means to subsist or to acquire the necessities for a flourishing life.”
Story by: Sr. Isabelle Izika Tsamba, SNDdeN, NGO Representative at the United Nations