Equality and social protection: Keys to inclusive and sustainable development

Abstract

Since 2010, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (eclac) has put equality at the center of the regional debate and has promoted the role of social protection as a key public policy for inclusive and sustainable development in the region. This article addresses the conceptual framework of the social inequality matrix, analyses regional inequality trends, and puts forward social protection and social policy proposals developed by the eclac in the recent period. Although the countries of the region have made some progress in reducing income inequality, it continues to be among the highest in the world and is accompanied by inequalities in other dimensions, such as gender, age, territory, race and ethnicity, immigration status, disability, among others. To face these inequalities and overcome poverty, from a rightsbased perspective, the eclac proposes to establish universal, comprehensive, and sustainable social protection systems. Universal social protection is needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, “leaving no one behind”, and represents a crucial response to the covid19 pandemic, which is necessary to rebuild with equality and sustainability.