Social protection was the core of the Thirty-first Session of the economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);, held in Montevideo in March 2006The discussions focused on the need for a new approach to social protection, given the structural changes the region is experiencing. It was suggested that this approach should be the result of a new rights-based social covenant, in which social rights are seen as the normative horizon, and existing inequalities and budgetary restrictions are the limiting factors to be addressed (ECLAC, 2006a);.