Summary (English)

Today, the issue of social protection has reached a historic turning point at which the region is called upon to take a different approach in coping with the new global order and its implications for national societies.
The structural changes reflected in the current situation call for a fresh approach to social protection within a framework of integral solidarity that combines contributory and non-contributory mechanisms. In other words, the ethical imperatives that underpin a social rights-based covenant must be reconciled with existing financial constraints.
The proposals put forward in this document are designed to build bridges between social rights and policy guidelines aimed at making them more enforceable through improved access, better financing and greater solidarity. To this end, the study devotes particular attention to some of the main issues relating to social protection, such as the reform and design of health and pension systems, taking into consideration both labour market dynamics and the countries' fiscal capacities. Programmes aimed at providing support to society's poorest groups are also examined. The analyses offered here are thus intended to delineate some of the issues that should be encompassed by a new social covenant founded upon the right to social protection.