Club de Madrid Dialogue: Rethinking Social Development for People and Planet

Club de Madrid Dialogue: Rethinking Social Development for People and Planet

The debate will be organized around three Working Groups: System Change for Economic Transformation, Social Dimensions of Climate Change, and Shared Societies.

Club de Madrid, the world’s largest forum of democratic former Heads of State and Government, will hold its Annual Policy Dialogue 2023 “Rethinking Social Development for People and Planet” (APD23).

The Dialogue – taking place on 13 and 14 November in Brasilia – will catalyze a three-year process as part of the organization’s efforts to support the advancement of urgent ecological, political and social reforms in a unified and coherent way.

According to Club de Madrid, the event seeks to convene and coordinate its efforts with a wide range of partners working on social development in order to highlight the urgent need to prioritize this issue within the framework of a new eco-social contract for a democratic and just world. 

Club de Madrid – which is a non-partisan and international non-profit organization of over 100 Members from over 70 countries – believes that dialogue and deliberative spaces can play a vital role in galvanizing and coordinating commitments to address global challenges.

The event will propose an agenda for governments and multilateral institutions which are working to prioritize and better integrate social development into their planning and policy making considering economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).

The main proposals and recommendations resulting from this Policy Dialogue will be discussed in the multilateral forums until the celebration of the Social Summit in 2025 [ United Nations (UNGA 2023-2025, Summit of the Future 2024, COP 28 and 29, Social Summit 2025), G20 Brazil and South Africa, and the European Presidencies of Spain, 2024 and 2025 ].

The debate will be organized around three Working Groups: System Change for Economic Transformation, Social Dimensions of Climate Change, and Shared Societies.

Led by former democratic Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the world, Club de Madrid will hold the Dialogue at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, with the support of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others.

Danilo Türk – a former President of Slovenia – (pictured above, photo: Club de Madrid) is currently serving as the President of Club de Madrid. Club de Madrid says that its APDs provide a unique platform to inspire democratic practices with global reach.