Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Abhishek Panwar, a young social worker from Madhya Pradesh and a committed climate and sustainable development practitioner, made a global impact at the “Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD-2)”, held in Doha under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recently.
Participating as a representative of “Angels in the Field’ an organisation with UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status and the Climate Content Hub, Panwar brought India’s civil society and youth perspectives to the forefront of global discussions.
Hosted at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), the summit was historic, marking the first time that a UNGA session convened outside New York or Geneva.
The gathering brought together global leaders, policymakers, diplomats, youth delegates and international institutions for deliberations on the ‘Doha Political Declaration.’
Panwar, who is associated with several national and international organisations including Angels in the Field (an NGO with Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), the Commonwealth Youth Council as the Climate Action Ambassador for Asia, and the GEG Global Foundation where he serves as National General Secretary (Organisation) engaged extensively with members of the Indian delegation, UN agencies and senior leaders from numerous countries.
As the Convener and Executive Committee Member of Chetna Atal Yuva Mandal and Programme In-charge at Nek Karya Seva Samiti, he highlighted India’s grassroots perspectives on youth empowerment, social development, social protection, community trust and climate resilience.
He also shared insights from his work as Founder and President of the Global South Movement for Climate Justice, a youth-led campaign advocating equitable climate solutions.
During Solutions Sessions and Ministerial Dialogues, he articulated India’s people-centric development model, emphasising reforms in social protection, trust-building, youth participation, indigenous knowledge systems, public health security and climate-adaptive policies.
Throughout the summit, Panwar held substantive discussions with ministers, ambassadors, parliamentarians, global experts and representatives of major international bodies.
These dialogues centred on advancing future cooperation, strengthening civil society networks, empowering youth leadership and developing collaborative strategies to address social and economic vulnerabilities worldwide.
At Exhibition Avenue, he met organisations working on climate action, youth empowerment, social innovation, and community development to explore new partnerships.
He said India’s development approach is based on humanity, trust, and fairness, and stressed that young people will play a key role in building a more just global future.
