Just Transition Voices

Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar, Doha

The Trade Union Regional Program of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, in cooperation with the Arab Trade Union Confederation, participated in the Second World Summit for Social Development, held in Doha from 3 to 6 November 2025, with a delegation of 15 trade union representatives from the Arab region.

The event brought together more than 8,000 participants, including presidents and governments, UN organizations, trade unions, civil society actors, academics, representatives of the private sector, and youth, to renew the global commitment to social justice and to place people at the center of the sustainable development process.

The summit discussions focused on the need to build a more just and equitable international system in the face of mounting crises—from wars and climate change to widening inequality—and emphasized that true development should be measured by human dignity, decent work opportunities, and comprehensive social protection, rather than solely by figures and financial indicators.

The participation of Arab trade unions took place in the context of defending a unified trade union position on social justice and articulating perspectives that place workers’ voices at the heart of global debates on the future of development and work.

The Arab Regional Trade Union Youth Conference

Leaders of Just Transitions

The Arab Regional Trade Union Youth Conference, held on 18–19 July 2025 in Tunis under the slogan “Arab Trade Union Youth: Leaders of Just Transitions,” gathered over 60 young participants from across the MENA region. The conference addressed the rapid digital and climate-related changes affecting the labor market and emphasized empowering youth to lead fair and inclusive transitions.

Participants issued recommendations in four main areas:
• Platform work: formalizing platform workers’ status, recognizing their rights, supporting the proposed ILO Convention on platform work, creating an Arab database on digital platforms, and initiating collective bargaining on the impacts of AI.
• Occupational health and safety: updating safety committees’ mandates, revising occupational disease lists to include psychological disorders, and promoting ratification of relevant international conventions.
• Climate justice: integrating climate justice into national policies, strengthening training in green sectors, and creating an Arab Youth Trade Union Committee for Climate Justice.
• Youth participation and communication: modernizing trade union communication tools, increasing youth representation, creating a regional digital platform for youth committees, and establishing an Arab observatory on young workers.