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 (World Bank; 2021b).