Within the framework of the 7th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean and the 18th Ministerial Forum for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC held the side event "Vulnerability and Social Protection Systems in Latin America: Conceptual Foundations and Guidelines for Policy Design".

Opening the meeting, Alberto Arenas de Mesa, Director of the Social Development Division of ECLAC, emphasized the importance of strengthening the preventive capacity of social protection systems and moving towards instruments that make it possible to anticipate the risks of deteriorating well-being, rather than intervening only when people have already fallen into poverty.

The presentation by Amalia Palma, staff member of the Social Development Division of ECLAC, addressed the conceptual foundations of vulnerability and analyzed experiences of countries in the region—including Brazil, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay—that have incorporated innovative tools into their social registries to identify risks and better guide public policy responses.

Among the conclusions of the event, it was highlighted that advancing in the analysis, identification and measurement of vulnerability is a strategic condition for building universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems.

The activity is part of the European Union's regional programme "Inclusive Societies in Latin America and the Caribbean", funded by the European Commission and implemented through the strategic partnership between ECLAC and German cooperation. Furthermore, it is framed within the technical assistance work that ECLAC is conducting with the Ministry of Social Development of Paraguay for the preparation of the study "Vulnerability and Social Protection Systems in Latin America and Paraguay", which is expected to be published in 2027.