Development and Relief Foundation (DRF) , in partnership with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and the Sikh Human Rights Group, cordially invites you to join our panel discussion:
"Empowering Communities: Pathways to Poverty Eradication and a Sustainable Future”
📍 Location: Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Doha, Qatar – Room 5
🗓️ Date & Time: November 6, 2025, at 11:30 AM (local time)
This Solutions Session brings together interfaith and community-based organizations to showcase innovative, practical models for eradicating poverty, promoting social protection, and advancing sustainable futures.
Concept Note A: Development and Relief Foundation (DRF)
Title: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: Skills, Jobs, and Inclusive Livelihoods through Community-Based Programs
Overview: For over two decades, DRF, an ECOSOC-accredited NGO, has empowered vulnerable communities in Iraq and beyond through education, healthcare, and livelihoods. By equipping youth, women, and widows with skills, access to microfinance, and pathways to employment, DRF transforms dependency into dignity.
Objectives:
- Showcase scalable models of job creation and poverty reduction through education, training, and micro-loans.
- Promote women’s empowerment, particularly widows and female-headed households.
- Share lessons on linking skills development with labor market opportunities in fragile contexts.
- Foster partnerships to expand micro-finance and vocational training.
Expected Outcomes:
- Exchange of best practices in skills, education, and job creation.
- Identification of replication opportunities for DRF’s models.
- Policy recommendations on integrating community-driven solutions.
- Building new partnerships for youth and women’s empowerment.
Summit Alignment: Poverty eradication, productive employment, social integration, gender equality, youth participation, and resilience in post-conflict contexts.
Speaker: Mr. Seyed Ali Ghazvini, President, Development and Relief Foundation (DRF)
Concept Note B: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation
https://hyc.tzuchi.org.sg/
Faith plays a pivotal role in shaping just and sustainable futures. With 80% of the world’s population identifying with a faith tradition, faith-based organizations (FBOs) hold deep moral authority to drive change.
This presentation highlights how FBOs foster multi-stakeholder cooperation, mobilize resources, and promote sustainable lifestyles. Examples of interfaith, community-led innovations will illustrate how cultural values and holistic approaches support marginalized communities, promote environmental awareness, and build resilience.
Concept Note C: Sikh Human Rights Group (SHRG)
https://shrg.ngo/
Title: Community Solutions to Poverty, Social Inclusion, and Integration
This session will spotlight community-driven and faith-inspired innovations in social protection. Sikh traditions of Langar kitchens, offering inclusive, sustainable meals for all, will be highlighted alongside global civil society initiatives, such as China’s “Smiling Children Program” and the Silk Road People-to-People Connectivity project.
Breakout discussions will explore how to adapt such models to diverse contexts, leading to policy recommendations for embedding community-solidarity approaches into universal social protection frameworks.
Focus: Poverty eradication, social inclusion, interfaith collaboration, and participatory governance — advancing both the Copenhagen commitments and the 2030 Agenda.
In-person Solution Session
Second World Summit for Social Development
Empowering Communities: Pathway to Poverty Eradication and Sustainability
Date & Time: November 6, 2025, at 11:30 AM (local time)
Location: Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Doha, Qatar – Room 5
Poverty eradication requires more than relief, it demands dignity, participation, and solidarity. Across regions and traditions, communities and faith-based organisations are designing innovative, people-centred solutions that unite livelihoods, education, and social inclusion to achieve lasting change. Despite global progress, millions continue to face exclusion due to conflict, inequality, and the growing mismatch between skills and opportunities. In this context, local and faith-inspired initiatives have become essential laboratories of social innovation, demonstrating how trust, compassion, and shared responsibility can translate into effective social protection and inclusive growth.
This Solutions Session brings together three complementary perspectives:
• Development and Relief Foundation (DRF): empowering vulnerable groups in Iraq and other conflict-affected areas through education, skills training, microfinance, and inclusive employment opportunities.
• Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation: demonstrating the transformative role of faith in driving community-led innovation, environmental awareness, and multi-stakeholder cooperation for sustainable livelihoods.
• Sikh Human Rights Group (SHRG): showcasing community-solidarity mechanisms such as Langar kitchens and other inclusive, sustainable practices that foster social protection, interfaith collaboration, and participatory governance.
Together, these approaches illustrate how community-based and faith-inspired action can bridge the gap between humanitarian relief and long-term social development, enabling individuals to move from dependency to dignity.
Objectives
The session aims to:
• Showcase scalable community-led and faith-based models for job creation, poverty reduction, and social inclusion.
• Promote women’s and youth empowerment through access to skills, microfinance, and decent work opportunities.
• Identify policy pathways for integrating community-solidarity mechanisms (such as Langar kitchens and local microcredit initiatives) into social protection frameworks.
• Highlight the moral and practical role of faith-based organizations in fostering cooperation, sustainability, and resilience.
• Foster partnerships among governments, UN entities, civil society, and faith-based actors to advance inclusive and sustainable livelihoods.
Panelists:
• Mr. Harmeet Singh Gill: Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall - Sikh Human Rights Group
• Mr. Seyed Ali Ghazvini: Development and Relief Foundation
• Ms. Debra Boudreaux: Buddhist TZU Chi Foundation
• Dr. Jafar Qazwini: Development and Relief Foundation
Moderator:
• Ms. Huey Yi Lee: Buddhist TZU Chi Foundation