WSSD2

Ahimsa in Action: Gandhi’s Legacy for a Just and Inclusive Future

Official Virtual Solutions Session – World Social Summit 2025 (Doha, Qatar, Nov 4–6, 2025)
Presented by the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute 

🎥 Watch film during our Solution Session — access available here at scheduled time. LIVE LINK

🎥 The documentary premieres during our V33 Solution Session. Following the premiere, participants may register here to access the film throughout the remainder of Summit week.

🎬 About the Film 

AHIMSA – Gandhi: The Power of the Powerless is an acclaimed and award-winning documentary exploring the enduring relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence in addressing today’s urgent challenges.

The film illuminates Gandhi’s global impact, showing how his principle of ahimsa inspired pivotal 20th-century movements, including:

• Martin Luther King Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement
• Lech Wałęsa and the Solidarity Movement in Poland
• Václav Havel and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
• Nelson Mandela and the Anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa

Recognized internationally, the documentary was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the 21st New York Indian Festival and the United Nations Celebration of Peace Award.

The film features powerful testimonies from peacebuilders, Nobel Laureates, and Gandhi family members — including Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. His presence in the film offers a direct bridge between Gandhi’s historical message and its urgent relevance today.

Written, directed, and produced by Ramesh Sharma, the Emmy-nominated filmmaker, AHIMSA also showcases contributions from world-renowned voices such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Congressman John Lewis, and Rev. James Lawson. Rev. Lawson reminds us:

“Nonviolence is love in practice, love in action — it cannot be taught, it must be lived.”

Through archival footage, photographs, and original music — including the song “Ahimsa” performed by Bono and U2 and composed by A. R. Rahman — the film weaves a compelling narrative of how ahimsa transformed nations and continues to offer solutions to today’s conflicts.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so powerfully declared:

“The choice is no longer between violence and nonviolence. It is between nonviolence and nonexistence.”

🎥 Watch the Trailer

🕊️ Why Now?

Thirty years after the landmark 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, the global community will gather again in Doha, Qatar for the Second World Summit for Social Development to reaffirm and strengthen commitments to:

• Eradicating poverty
• Advancing social integration
• Promoting full and productive employment and decent work
• Addressing climate change and inequality
• Ensuring social protection and resilience

This Summit aims to foster policymaking, catalyze investments in human capabilities and social protection, and ensure inclusive opportunities for all through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Gandhi’s message of ahimsa is a vital solution for building a just, inclusive, and sustainable future.

🌐 SDGs Directly Addressed

This virtual Solutions Session supports the broader Summit agenda while directly advancing the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• SDG 1 – No Poverty
• SDG 3 – Good Health & Well-being
• SDG 4 – Quality Education
• SDG 5 – Gender Equality
• SDG 6 – Clean Water & Sanitation
• SDG 7 – Affordable & Clean Energy
• SDG 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth
• SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities
• SDG 13 – Climate Action

🗝️ Key Objectives:

Re-energize global efforts to end poverty, inequality, and social exclusion.

• Foster solidarity and strengthen partnerships for inclusive, sustainable development.
• Catalyze action through investments in human capabilities, social protection, and decent work.
• Promote a rights-based approach, protecting democratic governance and labor rights.
• Address emerging challenges, including climate justice, digital inclusion, and the future of work.

📅 Event Details

• Date:  November 3,  2025 
• Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m. Doha, Qatar Time | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST | 8:00-9:30 a.m. PST  
• Format: Virtual Screening (V33) — 93-minute film 
• Organizer: Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute (d/b/a Ahimsa Peace Institute)
• Summit Host: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) & Government of Qatar

🖥️  Watch 

📺 UN Summit Web TV Live: https://webtv.un.org/en 

🔗 UN Event Listing V33: View on the UN Summit Calendar 

🎥 Watch film during our Solution Session — access available here at scheduled time. LIVE LINK

🌐 Language: English

🎥 The documentary premieres during our V33 Solution Session. Following the premiere, participants may register here to access the film throughout the remainder of Summit week.

🌍 Participation is free of charge.

Enjoy the screening of AHIMSA – Gandhi: The Power of the Powerless.

After the screening, we invite you to share your reflections through a short feedback form. Your insights will be included in the official outcome documentation of the Summit.

💬 Share Your Reflections 🌿 Watch → Reflect → Be Heard

👉 Reflections here: [Open Google Form]

🌱 About the Virtual Screening Solution Session Organizer

The Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute is a non-governmental organization in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since July 23, 2015.

ECOSOC is the central UN body coordinating economic, social, and environmental work to advance sustainable development and serves as a key gateway for civil society participation. Through this status, the Institute actively contributes to UN processes on peace, education, and social development — bringing Gandhi’s message of nonviolence into global dialogues on equity, inclusion, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

🕊️ Accelerating Social Progress Campaign

AI and digital transformation remind us that technology must serve as a force for inclusive, sustainable development, ensuring that innovation supports equity, dignity, and opportunity for all.

Featured Update

✨ Read our new blog: Ahimsa in Action — Our UN WSSD2 Screening | Doha, Qatar 2025
      A reflection on Gandhi’s legacy, partners, and the Ahimsa spirit guiding this year’s UN Summit in Doha.

📩 Contact

For event-related questions, please email: questions@gandhiforchildren.org

Official Virtual Solutions Session of the Second World Summit for Social Development, Doha 2025.
This event is featured as part of the Second World Summit for Social Development (Doha, Qatar, 4–6 November 2025), organized by UN DESA and the Government of Qatar.   

---