The COVID-19 pandemic confirmed the vital role social protection plays against both systemic shocks and ordinary life-cycle risks. As the world enters a period of multiple and interconnected crises, in which poverty and inequalities are increasing alarmingly, can social protection take on the greater task of supporting fundamental human rights? ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, discuss how this might be done.