Social protection was extensively discussed at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. Over 75 years, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has developed an agenda that prioritizes the construction of a rights-based society in order to move towards sustainable development. ECLAC argues that social protection is essential to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and successfully pursue a strategy of inclusive social development, and advocates universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems. These form the basis of welfare States, which will have to cope with new risks and trends such as the digital transformation, the demographic and epidemiological transition, the climate crisis and the rapid changes shaping the future of the labour market. New social and fiscal covenants are needed to ensure the financial sustainability of social protection and to progress towards inclusive social development.