Since the middle of the last century; the Government of Colombia (GoC) has been working on consolidating its Social Protection System. In the early of the 1990s; Colombia did not have social assistance programs and only 31% of the population had access to social security (health and pensions) offered by the Instituto de Seguros Sociales (ISS). The ISS?s problems led to its closure and prompted the reform of the health and social protection sector (Law 100 of 1993). In the late nineties; Colombia experienced one of the deepest recessions in seven decades; that revealed the impacts of the crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable populations as well as the lack of institutional response for these groups. To address this crisis; in 1999 the GoC introduced the first social assistance programs and launched the Red de Apoyo Social (RAS) with three flagship programs[1] <https://worldbankgroup-my.sharepoint.com/personal/mdromero_worldbank_org/Documents/Desktop/WB/HD/Contratos/EProcure/Luz%20Stella%20Rodr%C3%ADguez/Journey%20Map/Second%20Draft%20-%20ToRs%20-%20Journey%20Map%20limpios_CV%20Ajustes%20-%204282025.docx#_ftn1> that targeted low income and vulnerable populations. For the first time; the GoC used the social registry; Sistema de Identificación de Potenciales Beneficiarios de Programas Sociales (SISBEN); created in 1995; to target benefits different to education and health. Although without a formal definition; Colombia’s social protection system revolves around five main pillars that aim to protect populations against the risks faced throughout the life cycle: (i) social assistance (noncontributory) programs are aimed at reducing poverty; stimulating human capital accumulation; and strengthening social mobility; (ii) social insurance (contributory) comprises pension schemes includes savings programs for informal workers; (iii) labor market programs that include unemployment insurance; job placement; and vocational education and training; (iv) Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs and interventions led by the UNGRD; and (v) access to financial and physical assets that aims to develop financial inclusion initiatives for poor and vulnerable households; such as Banca de Oportunidades; as well as decent housing solutions (杏吧论坛; 2021b).