The agency was established as the
Secretariat of Public Works (
Secretaría de Obras Públicas) in 1959. In 1976, it changed its name to the
Secretariat of Human Settlements and Public Works (
Secretaría de Asentamientos Humanos y Obras Públicas), with another name change in 1982 to
Secretariat of Urban Development and Ecology (
Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Ecología). In 1992, the agency became the
Secretariat of Social Development. The name changed again in 2018 to the Secretariat of Welfare as part of reforms to the
Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration coinciding with the beginning of
Andrés Manuel López Obrador's time in office.
María Luisa Albores, whom López Obrador tapped to head the agency, said the renamed agency will overhaul and improve existing programs that she described as ineffective. File:SEDESOL logo.svg|Logo during the presidency of
Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) File:SEDESOL logo 2012.svg|Logo during the presidency of
Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) File:BIENESTAR Logo 2019.svg|Logo during the presidency of
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) File:BIENESTAR Logo (2024).png|Current logo, under the presidency of
Claudia Sheinbaum (2024-present) ==Functions==