(KPL) Mr Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, led the Lao delegation to the 2nd United Nations World Summit for Social Development, held from 4 to 6 November 2025 in Doha, Qatar. The summit was chaired by Ms Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and attended by heads of state, government leaders, and senior representatives from 166 countries and international organizations.

The meeting aimed to review progress in implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted in 1995, and to set new directions for international cooperation on social development. The summit concluded with the adoption of the Doha Political Declaration of the Second World Summit for Social Development.

At the opening ceremony, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, underscored the historical importance of the gathering, taking place 30 years after the Copenhagen Declaration. He reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment to promoting people-centred development through investment in education, social protection, and decent employment opportunities to ensure justice, equality, and inclusive participation across all sectors of society.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for renewed global cooperation to address poverty, create jobs, expand access to social protection, and strengthen development financing. He stressed that closing development gaps among nations requires coordinated multilateral action that places people at the centre of all policies.

In his plenary address, Deputy Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith reaffirmed that the Lao Government places social development at the core of its national agenda. He highlighted government efforts focused on poverty eradication, job creation, and improving education and public health services for all, particularly for women, children, persons with disabilities, and people in remote and rural communities. He noted that the national poverty rate had fallen from 46 per cent in 1993 to 16.87 per cent in 2023.

Mr Saleumxay also emphasized Laos’s strong partnerships with development partners, the private sector, and international organizations through national cooperation mechanisms such as the Round Table Meeting. These platforms, he said, help build capacity and ensure inclusive and sustainable social development in the current global context.

He called on the international community to further strengthen cooperation under multilateral frameworks, focusing on technology innovation, energy transition, climate change mitigation, and connectivity between regional and international cooperation networks.

The summit concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Doha Political Declaration, which will serve as an important reference for all member states, including the Lao PDR, to integrate social development priorities into national and sectoral socio-economic development plans. The declaration reaffirms the collective commitment to advancing inclusive, people-centred, and sustainable development through strengthened international cooperation in the years ahead.

KPL