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Source: United Nations (video statements)

Opening press conference for the Second World Summit for Social Development with the UN Secretary-General.

Speakers:
– António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

Moderated by: Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJuezb9DuJg

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Congolese photographer Do Nsoseme is featured in the "Through Her Lens" photo exhibition at the United Nations headquarters.

For a week, the Global Organization has marked the work of women in Peace and Security.

Twenty-five years ago, the international community agreed a new approach to women’s inclusion in peace processes in what came to be known as the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS), outlined in the landmark Security Council resolution 1325.

Photographer and activist Do Nsoseme reveals how admirable women in her country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo have inspired her artistic creation as a poet and photographer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIp9YCl5wj4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan expressed grave alarm at escalating atrocities surrounding the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), having gathered direct and harrowing testimonies from survivors that reveal systematic and ongoing attacks against civilians.

Despite immense challenges in accessing information, initial investigations point to a deliberate pattern of ethnically targeted executions of unarmed civilians, assaults, sexual violence, widespread looting and destruction of vital infrastructure, and mass forced displacement.

The Fact-Finding Mission’s latest report — published today and to be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York the same day — details a devastating pattern of atrocities by both warring parties, including war crimes of violence to life and person, outrages on personal dignity, and intentional attacks on civilians. It found reasonable grounds to believe both sides have subjected civilians to serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, amounting to atrocity crimes, while depriving them of genuine justice.

Entitled “Paths to Justice: Accountability for Atrocities in Sudan,” the report found that entrenched impunity remains one of the principal drivers of ongoing violence. The demands of victims can no longer be ignored and that accountability is both urgent and achievable, it said.

With justice in Sudan is being systematically obstructed and all warring parties unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute grave crimes, the report urged the international community to create an independent and impartial judicial body to end decades of impunity and prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes under international law. The new judicial institution, the Mission said, should work in partnership with the International Criminal Court.

Given the magnitude of violations committed, the report also called for the expansion of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction across Sudan, the establishment of a specific victim support and reparations office for Sudan backed by a dedicated trust fund, and technical training and capacity-building for those involved in documenting violations and crimes.

The ferocious conflict has dragged on for over two years with no end in sight. Fighting has trapped countless civilians between the warring parties, including in the siege and ultimate takeover of El Fasher and surrounding areas of North Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces have been implicated in ethnically targeted attacks, rape and sexual violence, starvation tactics, and the destruction of essential infrastructure, amounting to starvation as a prohibited method of warfare. Its systematic and large-scale conduct also amounts to crimes against humanity such as persecution, and potentially extermination.

The conviction of Ali Kushayb on 6 October by the International Criminal Court represents a landmark legal breakthrough — the first international judgment on atrocity crimes committed in Sudan. With reparations proceedings now anticipated, the case signals a pivotal moment for justice and accountability.

The collapse of the rule of law has fueled the conflict, as has the February 2025 constitutional amendment delaying the transition to civilian rule, and by the Rapid Support Forces’ opaque parallel justice structures.

“The Sudanese people have shown extraordinary resilience,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “They ask not for pity, but for solidarity — solidarity that turns words into action and resolutions into justice.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHGVolEKTJM

Source: United Nations (video statements)

President of the Human Rights Council (HRC) Jürg Lauber said that “In a divided world,” the ability to keep dialog on human rights alive is “an achievement in itself.”

Addressing the press in New York, Laubersaid said, “At its 60th session concluded earlier this month, the Council adopted 35 resolutions, including those establishing a new Investigative Mechanism on Afghanistan, merging the mandates of the Special Rapporteurs on slavery and human trafficking and taking steps to strengthen the Council’s efficiency under resource constraints.”

He continued, “The Council renewed a number of country and thematic mandates on Sudan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation, while bringing others to conclusion, such as those in Somalia and the DRC. It also postponed the adoption of Nicaragua’s UPR outcome, while inviting continued engagement.”

He noted, “The challenge now is to ensure that the Council can sustain this work as it enters its 20th year in 2026. The budgetary outlook may be difficult, but the commitment of member states to dialog, cooperation and accountability remains strong.”

Answering a question, he said, “If states, and we have some examples, disengage in the work of the Council, disregard the importance of human rights in relation also to peace and security and development, and turn the wave. That’s, for me, the threat, and that finds an expression in the budgetary constraints we have. It’s not the only reason, but it’s among them.”

He stressed, “And we see increasing these decisions taken by the Council not being implemented because the money is missing. I give you one particular example: we had the special session upon request of the Democratic Republic of the Congo concerning the human rights situation in eastern Congo in February, where it was decided, among other things, to establish a commission of inquiry. I recently was able to nominate the three experts, but we’re still waiting to have money for the commission to start.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lif-DqCJiyk

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The Chair of the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, Jan-Michael Simon, said the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, “has demonstrated a cynical and calculated approach to international cooperation.”

Briefing journalists in New York, Simon said, “they have been leveraging Interpol anti-money laundering and counter financing and terrorism cooperation frameworks to persecute transnational opponents. And this includes abuses of the Interpol retinal system and the circulation of false alerts on travel documents, misusing, databases dedicated to this by Interpol.”

He said, “they have also been circulating misinformation to trigger on the anti-money laundering compliance warnings within the financial compliance systems, leading to freezing of closure, of bank accounts and, of the targets.”

The Group Chair said, “the goal is to avoid scrutiny and accountability while continuing to perpetrate human rights violations. But the second point, which is less evident is, here, more important even, in this consists in a direct and aggressive, challenge to the international legal order.”

Ariela Peralta Distefano, a Member of the Group, said, “we continue to raise alarm over the increase of simultaneous mass arrests and prolonged incommunicado detention. Authorities refuse to disclose their fates and whereabouts of thousands of detainees, which amounts amount to enforce two disappearances. The resurgence of enforced disappearances is one of the most alarming developments we have seen since the group began its mandate in 2002.”

Distefano said, “it is important to underscore that international human rights law does not require a minimum duration for an act to qualify as an enforced disappearances. In this regard, the November 2024 detention of at least 40 political opponents whose whereabouts work on sale for two weeks constitute clear violation of international law, regardless of their duration.”

The third Member of the Group, Reed Brody, said, “the state and the ruling Sandinista party have virtually fused into a unified machine of repression, operating a wide intelligence network, surveilling the population and selecting the targets for violation of rights.”

Brody said, “our reports have identified 54 officials responsible for grave human rights violations, abuses and crimes. In addition, Nicaragua’s large-scale use of the arbitrary deprivation of nationality as a mechanism of targeted political repression is a manifest violation of the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and we are urging states to bring Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice for that violation.”

The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. Established in March 2022, it is tasked to conduct thorough and independent investigations into all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua since April 2018.

The expert members of the Group of Human Rights Experts were appointed by the President of UN Human Rights Council to gather data on alleged human rights violations, collect unbiased information and provide independent analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY8kcypHxmI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The Second World Summit for Social Development takes place from November 4 to 6, 2025, in Doha, Qatar, focusing on social development issues and reaffirming commitments to the Copenhagen Declaration. World leaders come together to redefine strategies for social progress, strengthen global partnerships, and promote inclusive policies that foster equitable opportunities for all. The goal: to build societies that are more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.

Subject to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, Member States, members of the United Nations specialized agencies and observers of the General Assembly to be represented at the level of Head of State or Government or at the highest possible level are invited to make statements in plenary of up to five minutes.

Thirty years after the landmark 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, the global community will gather once again — this time in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 6 November 2025 — for the Second World Summit for Social Development. In a world facing growing inequalities, demographic shifts, and rapid technological transformation, the need for a renewed commitment to social progress has never been more urgent.

Building on the 10 Commitments of the 1995 Summit and the Copenhagen Declaration, the Second Summit will accelerate action on poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, and social inclusion, ensuring that no one is left behind in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. It aims to address persistent gaps, reaffirm global commitment to social development, and give new momentum to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In Doha, world leaders will come together to redefine strategies for social progress, strengthen global partnerships, and promote inclusive policies that foster equitable opportunities for all. The goal: to build societies that are more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.

The Summit will serve as a pivotal platform for dialogue, cooperation, and joint solutions, convening governments, international organizations, the UN system, civil society, cooperatives, academia, the private sector, and experts to strengthen international cooperation for inclusive social development.

More info: https://social.desa.un.org/world-summit-2025/about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QWNZ_rw2lw