Doha, Qatar – 4 November 2025

At the Second World Summit for Social Development, a Solutions Session titled “Turning Global Commitments into Local Impact: Financing for a Just and Inclusive Transition” brought together experts and practitioners to explore how financial systems can better serve inclusive and sustainable development. The session was moderated by Ms. Anita Thomas, Chair of the NGO Committee on Financing for Development and Representative to the UN for the Women First International Fund.

Among the distinguished panellists was, Prof. Manohar Pawar, Professor of Social Work and Director of the Social Work and Social Development Research Alliance and Former ICSD Presdient, he offered a powerful reflection on the state of global financing and the urgent need to align resources with social justice goals.

“When research is need-based — when it addresses the felt needs of the community — the findings and consequent policies are likely to be useful and effective,” Prof. Pawar said, calling for greater collaboration across sectors to turn evidence into meaningful impact.

Converging Crises Demand Converging Solutions

Prof. Pawar observed that the world is experiencing a dangerous convergence of challenges — from poverty and inequality to digital exclusion, climate change, and inadequate access to finance.

“These forces,” he noted, “are compounding and converging to hit hardest those who are already most disadvantaged.”

He questioned whether governments, civil society, the private sector, and international institutions are converging in response with equal urgency. While examples of cross-sector collaboration exist, he argued, much more remains to be done to create truly integrated, cooperative approaches to social development.

Bridging the Research–Policy Divide

Highlighting the importance of academic–policy collaboration, Prof. Pawar pointed to a recent special issue of the International Journal of Community and Social Development, developed jointly with universities, NGOs, private sector partners, and multilateral agencies. The publication advocates for the goals of the Second World Summit for Social Development, identifying critical gaps in poverty reduction, decent work, climate action, and digital inclusion.

He emphasised that professional social work values — such as human dignity, empathy, non-judgment, and empowerment — are essential for building community resilience and adaptive capacity in times of crisis.

Reforming the Financial Architecture for Equity

Turning to the structural realities of financing, Prof. Pawar underscored that current financial commitments remain inadequate to achieve universal protection, health, and education. Nearly half of the world’s population lacks access to even one social protection benefit, despite World Bank and ILO plans to extend coverage to 500 million people

He highlighted key imbalances in the global financial system:
– Official development assistance declined from 0.45% to 0.44% of gross national income in 2024, reflecting no real increase.
– 70% of financing continues to be loan-based, deepening debt burdens in developing countries.
– Only 30% of climate finance supports adaptation, despite calls for at least half to do so.

“These figures expose deep structural inequities in how development is financed,” Prof. Pawar said, echoing Ms. Thomas’s call to “reform a fractured financial system.”

Towards a World Social Development Day

Concluding his remarks, Prof. Pawar argued that finance and economics must be recognised as integral dimensions of social development, not separate or competing fields.

Through the International Consortium for Social Development, he and his colleagues have launched a campaign calling for the United Nations to establish a World Social Development Day — an annual observance to raise global awareness, galvanise action, and accelerate progress toward comprehensive social development for all.

“Comprehensive social development — through universal social protection, health, education, and the wellbeing of all — is the path to a united and inclusive world,” he said.