Guterres urges investment in inclusion as UN launches World Social Report 2026

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for investment in education, jobs and skills training to ensure people share in the gains of technological and economic change, as he launched the World Social Report 2026 in New York on Thursday.[1]

In a video message, Guterres said poverty and exclusion were preventing billions of people from accessing opportunities, while global shocks were driving up food, fuel and fertiliser prices. He said more than 100 countries had lowered their growth forecasts this year.

The report, titled *New Economics of Social Inclusion: Making Transformations Work for All*, argues that inclusion is both an ethical imperative and an economic necessity. Guterres said inclusive societies were more productive, resilient and prosperous.

He also urged governments to build more inclusive institutions, make sure policymaking represents a range of voices, and use fairer approaches to labour markets and taxation. But he warned that many developing countries were being squeezed for resources: nearly half of the world’s poorest countries were either in, or at high risk of, debt distress, with interest payments relative to revenue at their highest levels in a generation, he said.

Guterres called on leaders to honour commitments made in the Doha Political Declaration on social development and the Sevilla Commitment on financing for development, and to reform international financial institutions so they better represent and serve developing countries.[1]