The General Assembly has requested the Secretary General to provide support the preparatory process of the Second World Summit for Social Development.

The upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development serves as a forum for best practices as well as a catalyst for actionable policies, enabling CARICOM Member States to discuss policy solutions for these challenges on social development at the global level, whilst fostering international cooperation to accelerate progress on social development in the Caribbean region.

The Latin American and Caribbean region achieved notable strides in poverty reduction, reaching a historic low in the regional poverty rate of 27.3% in 2023—over five percentage points lower than in 2020. However, inequality remained persistently high, with the Gini index standing at 0.452 in 2023. Progress has also been constrained by significant gaps in social protection coverage, 38.8% of the region’s population were not enrolled in any form of social protection scheme that same year(ECLAC, 2024).

The Workshop aims to:
• Taking stock of the progress made by CARICOM Member States towards achieving social development goals since the 1995 World Summit for Social Development;
• Identify existing gaps on achieving social development goals among governments, civil societies and private sectors within CARICOM region;
• Formulate policy recommendations and technical proposals to address existing gaps and current barriers to advancing social development, and subsequently inform the Second World Summit for Social Development;
• Define initiatives to build momentum on national and regional preparations for WSSD in each country, including with the engagement of civil society, small-and-medium size business owners and unions. .